Hagane no Tantei
by Southpaw
Summary: moved to "crossovers" aka. Fullmetal Detective... Edward is trying to get back to his own world, but Fate has different plans... rated for mild language and violence
1. Where to Fall From

Hi all! Surprisingly enough, I haven't fallen off the face of the planet! This seems to happen a lot, though, doesn't it – I start working on something that seems really fun, and then completely lose interest in it for a while. You can be sure I'll be sticking with this one, though (and that's not just an empty promise… I'm too busy right now to come up with a lot of new ideas). Anyway, this was originally posted in the "miscellaneous" section, but it really belongs over here (contrary to what you may think by the end of this chapter).

This story was inspired by a picture drawn by a good friend of mine from school. I suppose I should attribute the idea to her… and by the way, I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or Detective Conan.

This story takes place after the end of the FMA series, instead of its movie (I have seen the movie, and I know this conflicts with it).

On with the show!

* * *

Chapter 1: Where to Fall From

Edward looked down at the papers in front of him. The plans were perfect, and now he just needed to find a place to carry them out. After two years of hard work and complicated calculations, he decided it was finally time to test his theories. The only problem was that there was nowhere close by that he could use to set up the apparatus. He turned around in his chair and looked for something that might tell him where a good place would be. His eyes fell on a stack of periodicals sitting in the corner of the room. He rolled the chair over, pulled the top newspaper off of the pile, and started reading.

Half way through the fourth newspaper, he found a story. It was common at the time for newspapers to include works of fiction in their publications, since it allowed for greater exposure for the authors. Normally, Ed would have just skipped over it and gone on to the next thing, but he decided that it might provide a welcome, although short, break from the task at hand. "The Final Problem, by Arthur Conan Doyle…" he mumbled. As he scanned the pages, his patience waned. 'This detective character sure thinks a lot of himself,' he thought. He found one line to be of particular interest, though – if Mr Sherlock Holmes were assured of Professor Moriarty's death, he would have cheerfully accepted his own. (1) It was as if Holmes knew what would happen, simply from meeting the other man.

"Well, that was depressing," he blurted out at the conclusion of the short story. "That waterfall gave me a good idea, though. If I can't get off the ground just by the power of my machine, I still have another way to do it." He smiled. "I can just drive over the top of some high place, and let physics take over."

Now he dug through the stack with a more refined purpose; anything even remotely similar to what he had read about in the story would work. After a little while longer, he found an article about Reichenbach Falls, and his eyes widened. "You mean to tell me this is a real place?" He read the full article, and discovered that the Falls were in fact a real place… in Switzerland. He considered the possibility. "That story seemed pretty ominous, but then again, I've never been one to back down from a challenge, and this is no time to start!" He looked up at the ceiling and smiled. "Al, I think I've finally found it. I'm coming home."

* * *

Hoenheim approached his son as the younger man finished loading up the cart. "If I don't come back, you'll know that I made it away from this world," Edward said without looking up from his checklist.

"Where are you going to do it?"

"That information is classified, on a need-to-know basis," he replied with a smirk. He finished re-checking his supplies, and moved toward the cab of the motorcar. The older man attempted to intercept him.

"I have a right to know, I'm your father!"

"Oh, really? I have no father… unless maybe we count Colonel Mustang, and I'd give my wisdom teeth before admitting that. The man who provided half of my genes disappeared when I was little. He didn't even show up for my mother's funeral. Tell me, _dad_, how was your relationship with _your_ father?" When the other man couldn't provide an answer, Ed pulled the door shut and started the motor.

'In all this time, I thought he would have gotten over it…' Hoenheim thought. 'Well, I suppose I can't exercise any form of control over him… and life is still about learning from mistakes.' He was startled when the other man started speaking again.

"Well, I'm off."

"Don't forget to concentrate as hard as you can on the Gate."

"I know, I know! I've gone over the procedure several times, it has to work!"

"Good luck," Hoenheim muttered solemnly as his son drove away.

* * *

Edward gulped as he looked over the edge of the Reichenbach waterfall. "Heh, long way down…" He turned back to the motorcar and began to unload and assemble the trailer's precious cargo. It was so late when he finally finished putting all the parts together, that he decided it would be better to wait until morning before proceeding with his plan. He built a fire to cook his dinner and looked over his notes again before falling asleep.

Several hours later, the sun started to peek above the horizon, throwing bursts of color onto the few fluffy cumulus clouds hovering in the sky. Ed rubbed his eyes and sat up when the gold-colored sphere was high enough to shine on his face. After a quick breakfast, he pushed the prepared vehicle as far away from the waterfall as he could get – almost to the tree line. He clambered into the cockpit and pulled a box of matches from his pocket.

He looked out over the wings of his craft. At the tip of each one was drawn a circle with many lines inscribed in it. Had anyone else seen them, they might have thought he was trying to perform some kind of witchcraft. He wasn't using the transmutation circles to transform something, though – they were meant as a way to help him reach the Gate. His alchemic ability had waned to about nil since the last time he'd passed through it, and he figured he could use all the help he could get.

Before he had a chance to turn back, he lit a match. If his calculations were correct, the power from the explosion would be able to propel him forward fast enough to get some lift under the wings. The flame from the match made contact with the fuse from the explosives. He barely had enough time to turn back around before the entire apparatus lurched forward. The wheels bounced on the ground a few times, and the wings only caught some lift just as the machine reached the edge of the waterfall.

Ed found it difficult to control his vehicle and concentrate on the Gate at the same time. He pulled the joystick to try to make it go higher, but his fuel had burned off so quickly that his efforts were to no avail. He started to panic as the machine started falling with him still in it.

Suddenly, the transmutation circles began to glow. Even though he was concentrating more on getting back in control, he knew something had happened when the Gate began to materialize in front of him. The machine suddenly vanished out of under him and he tumbled across a stark white floor as he tried to regain control of his body. He stood up slowly and tried to push the Gate open, but the doors would not budge.

"What do you want this time," he asked, still amazed that it even showed up for him in the first place. When he didn't receive an answer, he turned back around and prepared to accept his fate, even if it was a bloody death at the bottom of the waterfall. However, just because he didn't hear the answer didn't mean that there wasn't one. He fell with a thud onto a patch of grass, and lay there unconscious.

* * *

When Ed finally woke, he sat up with a dazed expression and rubbed the back of his head. "I'm still alive?" He looked at his surroundings.

He could tell that he was in a park, because there were grass and trees and flowers, and he could see some buildings off in the distance. It certainly wasn't the world he had come from, though, and it didn't look like anything he remembered from his home world either.

He looked down at his hands. He still had the broken metal right arm, and could feel that he still had the metal left leg. His eyes widened when he noticed what he was wearing – he had on his black pants and the shirt with the clasp at the collar, and his red coat!

'Well, apparently I got my old clothes back,' he thought, looking around again. "But where the hell am I?"

* * *

End Chapter 1

(1): paraphrased from Holmes' conversation with Moriarty in Conan Doyle's story "The Final Problem"


	2. Fateful Encounters

All previous disclaimers apply.

* * *

Chapter 2: Fateful Encounters

The sun beat down hard on Edward's head. He stood up and stretched, realizing that there was no way he could have been able to tell how long he had been laying there after leaving the Gate. He found a bench to sit on a few yards away and began to take stock of his surroundings. He looked at the buildings that were off in the distance, and even saw something that looked like a high-tech railway.

Turning his focus closer, he was reminded that he had landed in a park. Groups of varying numbers of kids dotted the play area, but one group in particular caught his attention. He noticed them because he could feel their eyes on him. Four of them were seated – two girls and two boys – the third boy stood, kicking a white and black-spotted ball.

* * *

Ayumi looked around at her friends. "Where do you guys think he's from? I've never seen anyone dressed like that before…"

"Ooh, ooh," Genta exclaimed while waving his arms around. "I bet he's from outer space!"

"That's impossible. The chances of there being intelligent humanoid life on other planets besides Earth are slim to none."

"Oh, yeah, Mitsuhiko? You got a better idea," Genta growled, only understanding the first part of the argument.

The other seated boy turned serious and raised a pointer finger. "As a matter of fact, I do. I hypothesize that he's from a parallel dimension, and somehow found himself here by accident."

"Conan-kun, it's time to come home now," Ran called out from across the playground. The girl's voice startled the small detective, and he lost control of the soccer ball.

Determined to maintain appearances, Conan feigned annoyance rather than welcoming her. "Already? But Ran-neechan, we were in the middle of something important!"

"It's after four o'clock already. I'd like you to come home and help me with dinner. Come on everyone, I imagine your parents will be expecting you soon, too."

"I'll be ready in a sec." Conan looked around for his ball. He finally found it in the hands of the weird-looking stranger. "Thanks, mister," he said taking it, with a smile.

Edward shrugged his shoulders as the boy returned to his friends.

* * *

Ran, Conan, and Ai dropped off the other three kids before going back to their own neighborhood.

"Ran-san, would it be okay if I joined you and Edogawa-kun for dinner tonight," Ai asked.

Ran looked down with a surprised expression at the smaller girl. It was an unusual request to come from her, but not an unreasonable one. "Sure," she replied with a smile.

* * *

The two children-who-were-not-children spent some time exchanging thoughts and theories about the man who had appeared from nowhere. They had dinner with Ran and Kogoro, after which the scientist left unceremoniously.

At about eight pm, there was a loud knock at the door. Conan went to answer it.

"Yo, Kudo," the man on the other side said when he saw who it was.

Conan grimaced. "You know, Hattori, one would think that after all this time you'd remember to not call me that, or at least not say it so loud."

Heiji considered the statement. "Maybe… but it's still fun to watch you squirm a little bit every once in a while."

"Conan-kun, who's that at the door?"

Conan answered her before the other detective had a chance to open his mouth again. "Don't worry about it, Ran-neechan, I'll be back in a minute." He crossed the threshold and pulled the door shut behind him. "Okay, spill it."

"I would tell you to chill, but I know every chance of that happening is gonna disappear as soon as you hear what I have to say." He paused to heighten the tension. "I caught wind that there was gonna be something going down tonight, and I thought you'd be interested in checking it out."

Conan glanced back at the closed door, and then back at Heiji. "Yeah, okay… just give me a sec." He went back inside and grabbed his suit jacket off the arm of the couch. "I'm going out for a little while, Ran-neechan. You don't need to wait up for me."

"You're WHAT? Who is that at the door?" She stomped over and pulled the door wide open to reveal Heiji, who was smiling sheepishly. "Hattori-kun…"

"Hey there, neechan! I just came by to see if Conan wanted to go for a walk."

"Oh… Well, have fun." They started walking. "Why don't you visit for a little while when you get back?" She couldn't tell if they'd heard her or not.

* * *

"So, who's involved in this thing that's 'going down'," Conan asked as he and Heiji walked over to the park.

"I don't know who the company exec is, but it seems like this is another blackmail case being organized by our favorite syndicate."

"The men in black!"

It was all Heiji could do to keep the smaller detective from running off in a fit of rage. "Let me go," Conan screamed.

Heiji held him up so that their eyes were on the same level. "Hate to say 'I told you so,' but you're easier to read than a children's book!" Conan glared, and crossed his arms, so the other man set him back on the ground.

"What do you propose to do about it," the smaller boy asked, voice still dripping with annoyance. He nearly fell over at what the Detective of the West said next.

"I haven't the foggiest… I've never faced them directly. But you have." He finished with a grin.

"Which is why you decided to pay me a visit…"

"Precisely."

"Well, let's go. It won't do us any good to just stand here."

* * *

Edward felt his stomach grumble. "Aw, man! This is even worse than the time Al and I were wandering in the desert outside Lior…" He thought that he would go looking for something to put in his stomach, when he started hearing voices. Curiosity drove him towards them, and as he approached he could just make out two men who were speaking frantically to each other.

The taller, blond man glanced around. "You'll remember to keep your guard up, right?"

The other man clenched his fists and glared at his companion. "Lay off, Gin! You know I've been more careful since we took care of that punk high school detective."

'Gin? That's an unusual name,' Edward thought. 'Something doesn't sit quite right with me about these guys…'

When the pair separated, Edward decided to follow the one who was not called Gin, using what he'd heard to determine where the action would be taking place.

* * *

Vodka approached his target. He held up a folder stuffed full of papers. "You got the money?"

A shaking middle-aged man emerged from the shadows of the trees. "It's r-right h-here…" The two exchanged packages, and the man flipped through the contents of the folder. "This is really the only copy?"

"Of course," replied Vodka. "When we say we're gonna do something, we do it. And that includes this."

Neither Edward nor the other man could see much, but there was the definite metallic click of a gun being cocked.

"Hey, I thought you said I had to bring the money _or_ my life would be in danger," the man exclaimed.

"Hmm… well, I must have said it the other way to someone…" Vodka mocked. The other man started to slowly walk backwards.

The course of events gave Edward the feeling that he had no room for hesitation. 'Alchemists work for the people,' he remembered, followed quickly by 'oh, yeah… I'm not an alchemist anymore… oh well.' He started running. When he saw the gleam of metal emerge from the Bad Guy's pocket, his body acted automatically and he clapped his hands together.

* * *

Conan and Heiji saw a flash of bright light against the darkened sky. They stopped at the edge of the park. "Hey Kudo, what the hell do you think that is," the taller detective asked.

Not paying close enough attention to give an answer, Conan took off running towards what he thought to be the source.

Heiji sighed and followed his Tokyo-based counterpart. "I swear… sometimes your instincts really baffle me."

* * *

Edward looked down at his hands, also surprised at the energy being emitted from them. As its meaning dawned on him, he looked back up with a sly grin at the man dressed in black.

He moved his left hand away from the end of his right, extending a sharp blade over the back of his right hand. In one fluid motion, he advanced, raised his arm up, and slashed through the barrel of the gun. He slid to a stop on the other side and shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry about that, it's a reflex…"

* * *

The pair of high school detectives reached the clearing in time to hear the last thing Edward said. They crouched behind a row of bushes (well… Conan didn't actually need to crouch, per se). Heiji took his hat off so that it wouldn't peek out over the top. When Conan looked over the bushes again, he prepared to jump right into the action.

"Oh no you don't," Heiji said, grabbing his companion by the scruff of the collar again.

"WHY. NOT," Conan growled.

Heiji knocked on the other's forehead. "Because you seem to always let your emotions take over when these guys are involved."

* * *

"What the hell are you," Vodka demanded.

Edward flexed and released his automail arm to make sure the impact with the gun hadn't affected its mobility. "Judging by the way I feel right now, I'd have to say I'm your worst nightmare."

Vodka turned to face Edward, deciding that it would be better in the long run to restrain the opponent that was actually fighting back. Now lacking an appropriate weapon, he tried to use brute strength to tackle the smaller man. Edward easily jumped over him, taking Vodka's hat with him by piercing through it with his blade.

The man dressed in black felt a breeze over his head. He reached a hand up, and then looked over at Edward, who was grinning with one hand on a hip and the other holding the hat. "Looking for this?"

Gin emerged from the bushes on the opposite side of the clearing from where Heiji and Conan were arguing. He was clearly disgusted by what he saw. "What the hell is going on here? Where'd the target go? I thought you said you could handle this, what are you playing around with a kid for?"

Edward exploded, furious that they couldn't tell that he was already eighteen. "WHOAREYOUCALLINGASRHIMPWHO'SASSMALLASAGRAINOFSANDTHATYOUCANBARELYSEE?"

Vodka pinched the bridge of his nose. "I know that's definitely something we didn't say."

In the midst of the confusion and diverted attention, the Black Organization's target had backed away from the clearing and ran as fast as he could until he returned safely to his own house.

* * *

End Chapter 2

Okay, so I guess the beginning of the story is kinda predictable. Please be patient with me!

v-v ...thank you


	3. The Little Pill Strikes Again

Again... disclaimers apply :)

* * *

Chapter 3: The Little Pill Strikes Again

Edward had had no trouble predicting Vodka's actions once he had engaged the other man in a fight. Gin, on the other hand, was a completely different animal. The taller blond man walked up with his hands in his coat pockets. In one swift motion, he took his gun out, cocked it, and put a bullet in Edward's left thigh.

The sound of the shot brought Heiji and Conan back to the urgency of what was going on. They peeked over the bushes. "Hattori! It's them – the exact pair that got me!"

"It looks like they're about to get somebody else, too…"

Conan motioned to Heiji to go around to the other side of the clearing so that they could attack from both sides.

"You're lucky," Edward gasped at Gin. "Any lower, and nothing would have happened."

Gin nodded, but Edward could tell that the gesture wasn't directed at him. Vodka came up behind him. "You know," he muttered in the alchemist's ear, "just because you sliced off the muzzle of my gun doesn't mean it's completely useless now." He brought the butt of the gun down hard on Edward's head before the smaller man could spin around and slash him with his blade.

'Man, these guys are vicious,' Heiji thought. Instead of doing what Conan asked, he walked away to try to find a less conspicuous place from which to call the police station. 'I know you'd probably say not to, Kudo, but there's no way we'll be able to handle this between the two of us.'

* * *

Conan was poised to attack the men who had unknowingly condemned him to such a miserable existence. He looked over to where he thought his partner was getting into position. However, he couldn't see anyone besides the stranger and the two men in black. 'Damn it, Hattori!' He turned his focus back to the middle of the clearing.

The other man's sudden absence turned out to be the least of his problems.

* * *

Gin took a metal box out of his pocket. "This is becoming excessive. Can't we just do our job and be done with it?" He took a red-and-white pill from the box and force-fed it to Edward.

"Aniki, why didn't you just shoot him again?"

"We've been here too long. Another gunshot would be too noisy. Let's just get out of here before anyone else shows up."

Vodka collected his hat, and the pair of Bad Guys left the clearing from the same direction that they had entered it.

* * *

Conan gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. When he was sure that the men in black were gone, he rushed over to the side of the strange man in the long red coat.

Edward was already sweating profusely.

"Onii-san, are you okay," Conan yelled.

Edward couldn't answer. He was delirious with pain from the impact of the gun butt with his head, the bullet in his thigh, and now also the effects of whatever was in that pill they'd given him. He clutched his right shoulder with his left hand and let out a blood-curdling scream.

Heiji was just about to place his phone call when he heard it. He slipped the device back into his pocket and ran back to where he was supposed to be.

"Damn it, Hattori! Where the hell have you been?"

Not wanting to get into an argument, the Osakan detective changed the subject. "No time for that. What happened?"

"They got him…" A small fist pounded the ground. "There weren't supposed to be any more victims!"

"What can I do," Heiji asked, not really knowing what else to say.

Conan shook his head. He'd always been the one experiencing the changes, so he wasn't quite sure what to do. "Let's at least try to make him comfortable. The process is painful, but I don't remember it ever hurting _that_ much…"

"So there's really nothing else?" Heiji couldn't believe his ears.

"No… it's a bad idea to move him around until it's over."

They carefully eased Edward's coat out from under him so that they could fold it up and put it under his head. Lengths of exposed metal reflected light from the now-burning street lamps. Both Conan and Heiji noticed the blade attached to the back of Edward's right hand. "What the hell is that," the Detective of the West asked.

"It looks like some sort of advanced prosthesis. He already had the blade out when we got here, remember?"

Before Heiji could answer, Edward started screaming again and his left hand moved from his right shoulder down to his chest, and then back up to his shoulder. The two detectives looked at each other and nodded. This was the beginning of 'the end.' They backed off to wait impatiently for it to be over.

The first thing that told them that something had gone drastically wrong was the sound of metal grinding against some other, unidentifiable material. They winced at the sound.

That expression gave way to surprise, though, as they noticed puddles of blood forming around Edward's right shoulder and left knee.

* * *

Edward's mind was swimming. All he knew of what was going on outside his brain was that he was lying down and was in an immeasurable amount of pain. The last thing he remembered was the man with the blond hair shoving a pill down his throat. Was that what was causing all this? No… he had nearly forgotten about the bullet in his leg.

Images of Al and Winry involuntarily flashed in his mind. 'Am I really going to die here?'

He remembered the people he studied with in Munich – his father Hoenheim, and the other scientists. He remembered the people from his home – Roy Mustang and the other soldiers, the Tringham brothers, Tim Marcoh, and Shou Tucker. He remembered his adversaries, and the other people who had helped him discover the truth.

And he remembered the people he'd lost along the way. 'I'll be with you soon,' was his final thought before passing out of consciousness.

* * *

"Oi, Kudo, is this what happens to you every time your body changes?"

"Yeah… I guess it must be." He clammed up after that, staring ahead of him in a stunned silence as Ed's body underwent the changes imposed by the Apotoxin.

The detectives both sat there, helpless.

* * *

After a few more minutes, when it seemed like the worst of the ordeal was finally over and Edward laid still, Heiji reached over and opened the blond's bloody shirt. He searched his brain desperately for words to describe what he'd found. He looked over to where Conan was still sitting completely spaced-out.

"Oi! Earth to Kudo!" Heiji waved his hand in front of his companion's face. "Check his left knee, would ya?"

Conan blinked and turned his head. Realizing that he had been spoken to, he turned back to the task at hand.

Heiji looked up and down the length of Edward's body. The blond man who was now a child again was still bleeding profusely from both his shoulder and leg. In addition to that, though, the detective was horrified to notice that the skin and muscles were shredded at the edges. He looked at the chipped shoulder bone. "Well, at least we know what that awful grinding sound was. He must have been doing something real serious to have prosthetics like these…"

"Would you quit it, and help me try to clean him up a little bit? We need to get him to the hospital!" Conan had come to his senses, and was now covered in blood. He had set Edward's automail leg off to the side and was trying to control some of the damage by tying up the pant leg.

Heiji attempted to wrap the shoulder. "You seem to be back to normal…"

"It comes with the territory."

"Yeah, I guess it does."

Conan pulled the knot tight. "Okay, we're running low on time. Why don't you wrap him in his coat, call an ambulance, and get him over to the hospital."

"What are you gonna do?"

"It's too hard to take the arm and leg to the hospital, but we can't leave them sitting out here, either. I'll find a good place to hide them until we have him taken care of. Then, I think I'll go home and get cleaned up a little."

* * *

End Chapter 3


	4. Narrow Escapes

So... I just uploaded chapter 3, and now I'm doing the same for chapter 4... However, I also just realized that I made a horrible pun in the title of chapter 3. /bows/ please excuse it.

Disclaimers apply.

* * *

Chapter 4: Narrow Escapes

An hour later, Edogawa Conan once again found himself in the presence of Hattori Heiji. The Detective of the West was still partially covered in Edward's blood; he was waiting outside.

"How's it going?"

"I'm actually not sure. It's so busy in there that I couldn't even find someone who could tell me where to go to get cleaned up. They took him to the emergency room, though, so I guess that means his case was still worse than the other people who were coming in." He slouched to a sitting position. "So now what?"

"We wait until he's in a more stable condition, and then we take him over to Dr Agasa's house."

"We spring him? Kudo, are you nuts?"

"I've never been more serious." He described the first encounter with the blond man, which had taken place earlier that afternoon. "I don't know why, but I have this strange feeling that guy is in an even tougher bind than I am. We don't know if he has medical records anywhere, and with the added complication of the apotoxin, I'd like to get him out of there before the doctors start asking a lot of questions."

Heiji looked at his companion as if he'd grown a second head. The more he thought about it, though, the more he realized it was probably the best course of action.

Conan looked up at him. "Come on, I'll go talk to a doctor and see how that guy is doing. We can also see if there's somewhere you can get cleaned up." Heiji stood and followed him through the doorway. Once inside, they made a beeline for the nurses' station. "Hey, miss nurse! Are you busy?"

A woman in bright-colored scrubs turned around and looked at the pair. "Why hello, Conan-kun. What can I do for you? Is your friend okay?"

"You know them that well," Heiji muttered.

Conan chose to ignore it. "This guy? Nah, he's fine. I was actually wondering about the blond kid he brought in a little bit ago."

The taller detective decided he couldn't handle it anymore. "Excuse me, please. Is there somewhere I can go to clean up?"

The nurse diverted her attention from Conan's question for a moment. She pointed down a hallway. "If you just go that way, make the first left, and go for a little more, you'll find the men's room."

"Thank you." He made a small bow and walked off in the direction she was pointing.

"Now, what were you saying?"

"My friend brought in a blond kid a little while ago."

"Is he also a friend of yours?"

Conan debated with himself whether to answer truthfully. He decided it would be safer not to. "More like an acquaintance… It's been a while since we saw each other, and I don't even really remember his name. When I saw him today, he was missing his right arm and a good bit of his left leg."

The nurse nodded. "They took him to the ER when he came in, and then they took him to the OR once he was stabilized. You don't have any more information about him?"

Conan shook his head. "Is there any chance you could let me in to see him?"

"Not right now, but if you'll wait a little while, I'll let you know when he's out of the OR."

"Okay, thank you." He bowed and backed away. He managed to find two vacant chairs next to each other in the crowded room, and sat down to wait for Heiji to return.

* * *

"So, how's the patient," Heiji asked as he sat down beside Conan. He set his bag, which now contained the blood-stained clothes, on the floor.

"Ten minutes ago, they had just moved him from the ER to the OR. The nurse said she'd tell me when they take him to a room."

"So…"

"Yes." The smaller detective understood that he was asking whether they were still going through with the plan. He took out his notepad, wrote something down, and handed it to Heiji.

_They'll probably put him on the first floor. When the nurse comes over here, we'll say goodbye. I'll follow her back, and you go around the outside. Wait until I have the doctor in the hallway, and then take the kid out the window._

Heiji nodded, even though he still wasn't sure whether they were using the best method to accomplish the task.

* * *

There was a television in the waiting room, and both pairs of eyes were focused on it when the nurse came over. "Excuse me, Conan-kun. They just brought your friend out of the OR. He's stable and cleaned up."

It took an extra second for the words to register. "Can I go see him?"

"I don't see why not. Follow me."

"I'll be right there. Which room is it?"

"153; just down that way and around the corner." She pointed a finger to the opposite side of the room from where they were sitting.

The detectives shot meaningful glances at each other. Luckily, no one else was paying attention.

Conan put on his kid voice. "Thanks for waiting with me, Heiji-niichan!"

The Osakan teen reached over and ruffled his hair, knowing full-well how much it annoyed the other detective. "You're welcome. Guess I'll see ya later."

They parted, weaving in opposite directions through the sea of people still waiting for their turns.

* * *

Conan wasn't quite prepared for what he saw when the nurse opened the door to Ed's room. A doctor had been standing in front of the bed, writing something on a clipboard, but moved to the side at the sound of the turning handle. The patient had been cleaned up, but it didn't make it any less weird to be missing the arm and the leg.

The doctor looked up, surprised as well to see the bespectacled kid. "Hello, Conan-kun." The nurse took her leave then, but the child refused to enter.

"Hello doctor, how is he?"

The doctor, sensing his apparent discomfort, led him to another room. He closed the door behind him and sat down with a sigh. "The good news is that he's stable. We got the bullet out of his leg, and were able to close up all the damaged areas."

"And the bad news?"

* * *

As soon as Heiji got outside and around the corner of the building, he started running. He knew that Conan had gotten as much information on the location of the room as possible, while still being discreet about it. Still, he let out a swear word when he discovered that the room was on the _other_ side of the hallway from where he was. He finally found the right window, and saw the back of Conan's head just as the detective and the doctor were leaving the room. The window was already open a couple inches, so he reached his fingers in and pushed it up high enough to squeeze the rest of his body through.

* * *

"The bad news is that he lost a lot of blood, and was passed out before he got here. He looks strong, but we have no idea how long it'll take for him to wake up. You're sure you have no idea what happened to him?"

"No," Conan lied again. "I'm sorry… we didn't get there until afterwards."

"That's okay. It's just such a strange case, I wish we had more to go on…"

* * *

Heiji looked around and smiled, happy to find the blond kid in the room by himself. "You look a lot better than the last time I saw you," he muttered, approaching the bed.

He looked around for the clothes which had apparently been set aside in the ER, and found them folded on the rolling table beside the bed. He put the pants, shirt, and shoe (which were all too big now) into his blue bag. Then, he slipped the sock over the bare foot, and wrapped the kid in the long red coat.

When everything was ready, he put his ear against the door to make sure there was no one coming. Satisfied, he went back, put one arm under the kid's shoulders and one under his thigh, picked him up, and made his way over to the window.

* * *

Conan stood up from his seat. "Thank you, doctor. I need to be getting home soon."

"Didn't you come here to see him?"

"He's not awake… there isn't much I can do."

An expression of understanding crossed the doctor's face as he realized the child's almost-true connection to the patient. "Yes, well, why don't I walk you out?"

* * *

Conan made sure no one from inside the hospital could see him, before searching for the other detective.

"You owe me big time, Kudo."

The Detective of the East jumped and turned around. Heiji had the stranger on his back now, covered up by the red coat. "Don't scare me like that! Come on, let's go."

The pair slowly found their way to Dr Agasa's house – slow for Heiji because of the additional burden, and for Conan because that was just how long his legs were.

* * *

Ai opened the door a full minute after Conan rang the bell. "Kudo-kun… Don't you know what t-… who's your friend?"

Conan looked at his watch for the first time that night. "It may be 1 am, but I think you'd still be able to recognize Hattori…"

She waved an arm in Heiji's general direction. "Yes, Kudo-kun, I know who Hattori-san is. I meant the blond kid on his back."

"Um… Where's Dr Agasa?"

"In bed, amazingly enough. Now you answer my question."

"Suffice it to say it's not just you and me anymore."

Ai's eyes widened in shock and understanding – she was fully awake now. "What? There weren't supposed to be any more victims!"

Heiji suddenly burst out laughing. Ai glared at him. "What's funny, detective-man?"

"Oh, sorry. You two must have ESP or something, because that's exactly what Kudo said!"

Ai sighed. "Bring him inside, I'll go get Dr Agasa."

* * *

End Chapter 4


	5. Scientific Reality

I'm starting to sound like a broken record, with the whole disclaimer-thing...

* * *

Chapter 5: Scientific Reality 

After Ed was laid down in a spare bed, Conan told Heiji where he'd hidden the arm and leg so that he could go retrieve them.

Dr Agasa, Ai, and the small detective sat down in the living room. "So who is he," Ai asked.

"I don't know."

"You don't know? You must have at least seen what happened, otherwise he wouldn't be here."

He looked her straight in the eye. "Do you remember that weird-looking guy we saw at the park this afternoon?"

The girl's jaw fell slack. "That's _him_?"

"What was he doing there, Shinichi-kun," Dr Agasa asked.

"Who knows? Maybe the same thing we were."

"Why didn't you do anything," Ai chimed in again.

"I wanted to," he growled, "but it's not exactly something I could do by myself."

"But wasn't…"

"He figured even two wouldn't be enough, and backed off to make a phone call."

"Oh."

They heard the front door open and close, and then Heiji joined them. The two scientists couldn't tell what he was carrying this time, but it shined like metal, and was red in places with what looked like dried blood. He held them apart – one in each hand – and answered their question before they asked it. "They are an arm and a leg, and they belong to our friend with the funny symbol on his coat."

Dr Agasa coughed, clearing his throat. "It seems like there's nothing more we can do tonight, so let's get some rest and see now he is in the morning."

* * *

The sun shone in on Edward's face. Dazed, he reached his left hand up to his forehead. He sat up. "Winry? Al? How long have I been sleeping? I'm starved!" Not hearing a response, he prepared to head toward where he thought the kitchen was. He turned to face the side of the bed. Still groggy, he didn't notice that only his right foot had made it to the floor. He landed hard with a thud and a groan.

* * *

The two detectives and the two scientists were sitting around Dr Agasa's kitchen table reading different sections of the newspaper when they heard the thud. They looked at each other over the tops of the papers, and the younger three got up quickly to see what was going on. 

Ai entered the room first. On the floor at the side of the bed was the collapsed form of the blond kid Heiji had brought in the night before. He turned his head to look at her.

He slowly started remembering some of what had happened the day before. He studied her face, suddenly recognizing her from the group of kids in the park. "You… look familiar," he said, trying to re-position himself.

"So do you," she replied.

The newest victim of the apotoxin looked around. All the furniture in the room looked so big, as if these people were giants or something. But that didn't make sense – there was a normal-sized little girl standing right in front of him.

"It's not a good idea to do much moving around in your condition," she continued. "Hattori-san, would you mind helping him get back into bed?"

"Sure."

The kid was truly surprised when Heiji entered the room. It was a long time since he'd seen anyone with skin that dark. His eyes were dark too, though, not red. "Have you ever heard of a small desert town called Lior?"

"Desert," the tall detective asked.

"There's no desert around here, kid," Ai interjected. "This is Tokyo."

"Tokyo… Japan… I'm not a kid, and you can't keep me here! What happened to my automail?"

"Your what?"

"My automail… the arm and the leg," he explained.

"They're soaking in some soapy water to get your blood off," said another young-sounding voice. The body to which it belonged moved out from behind the girl. It was a boy dressed in a white button-down shirt and gray shorts, with a blue jacket and red bowtie. "Even if you had them, I don't think you'd be able to use them." He held out a mirror.

"You… Who are you," the blond asked, taking it and looking at his reflection. He almost fell off the bed again in surprise. Heiji caught him.

"In this body, my name is Conan. This is Ai." The girl nodded. "We know what happened…"

'I look like I did when I was eight years old…' He looked at Conan. "How did I get here?"

"We were hoping you could help us with that. You appeared in the park yesterday, out of nowhere."

Ed raised his eyebrows. "Huh? Oh… I don't mean here in general, I mean here." He pointed to the bed. "This room – how did I get _here_?"

Heiji coughed. "I carried you here last night. You were in pretty bad shape, but Conan didn't want to have to worry about answering the doctors' questions."

"Thanks, I think…" He turned it over in his head, still not seeing the whole picture.

Conan took control of the interrogation again. "You took on two members of the Black Organization by yourself, with just a knife."

The blond realized that they still didn't know he was an alchemist. "Who? What?"

"Let's start with something easier," Heiji suggested. "What's your name?"

"Edward Elric."

"Those two men are part of an extensive crime syndicate," Conan continued, more concerned with making sure the newcomer was aware of the situation. "I am a high school student, and a detective. I went up against them and they took my life away from me."

Ed considered this information and looked back down at the mirror. "There's no equivalent trade here," he muttered.

"Equivalent what," Heiji asked.

Ai came to the rescue with an explanation. "You know the concept of TANSTAAFL? It's the same idea – you can't get anything without giving up something else for it. The added stipulation of equivalency requires that whatever you're giving up has the _exact same_ value as what you're getting for it."

Ed was surprised that the girl knew so much on the subject. "Yeah, that's right… It's the most important rule of alchemy."

"Alchemy? That's just a myth…" Conan said skeptically.

"Not where I come from."

"It's not a real science…" Ai replied.

"It follows the laws of conservation."

"You mean to say that you can _perform_ alchemy?"

Ed laughed sheepishly. "Actually, that's the funny thing about it – I didn't know I could do it." The statement elicited stunned looks from the others, so he continued. "I haven't been able to do alchemy for two or three years now, so it came as a real surprise to me, too."

Conan was still having trouble grasping the full meaning of what was being said. "So, when you told that guy it was a reflex, it was no joke – you were being completely serious?"

"Yeah… Come to think of it, I think I was knocked out before having a chance to put it away…"

"It… the knife?"

"Yeah."

"I think we can help with that. What tools do you need?"

Edward shook his head. "No tools, just the automail arm and something I can draw on it with."

Heiji left to retrieve the arm, while Ai went looking for a Sharpie marker.

While they were gone, Ed kept talking. "Normally, I wouldn't need to draw the circle; I could just clap my hands together, and that would create it for me. In fact, that's how I got the blade out in the first place. It used to always be my primary means of defense."

Conan was surprised at how candid he was being. "Why are you telling me all this?"

"I don't really know… Why are you being so nice to me? We're total strangers…"

"No… we're not strangers anymore. Us four – Heiji, Ai, Dr Agasa, and I are protecting you now. We're being nice because we want to… and for your safety, our own, and that of the people close to us. I should warn you, though – you'll probably hear a few people call me by another name. I need you to humor me and not follow suit."

Ed shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, no problem." He looked toward the door at the glint of light reflecting off of something metallic.

He was grinning from ear to ear as Heiji set the arm down on his lap. "Ahh… It's like getting reacquainted with an old friend." He took the marker and started drawing a couple concentric circles with other shapes in them on the blade. "That should do it," he said after re-capping the Sharpie. "You guys might want to shield your eyes."

Heiji leaned in a little closer. "What is it?"

"A transmutation circle. It's what most alchemists use to channel the energy. I was just telling Conan a little bit ago about how it's been a long time since I've had to use one."

"You're sure it'll work?"

"This is not something that's forgotten easily. I already know from last night that I can do the alchemy, so there's nothing to worry about." He held his left hand palm-down, opened flat, and touched the edge of the circle. Suddenly, the circle started glowing a purpley-white color increasing in intensity until the automail began to change shape.

As quickly as the light had appeared, it was gone again.

Conan lowered his arm from his face. "That was as bad as one of KID's flash bombs…"

Dr Agasa appeared at the door. "What was that light? Is everything okay, Ai-kun?"

The girl had collapsed to her knees, and sat in a stunned silence.

"We just had our first alchemy demonstration," Conan explained. He nodded his head in Edward's direction. "It looks like it took a lot out of him."

Dr Agasa looked down at the tray he was carrying. "I brought some food because I thought he might be hungry…"

Heiji took the tray and set it on a chair next to the bed. "He was being really reckless to try something like that, and now he's exhausted again. Let's leave it here in case we don't hear him wake up next time."

Ed was doubled over with the automail still in his lap. Heiji repositioned him, put his head back on the pillow, and set the metal arm on the night table.

Conan put a hand on Ai's shoulder. "Come on, Haibara. We should let him rest." His words startled her back to reality. She looked up at him and nodded.

Dr Agasa watched her as they went back to the living room. "Ai-kun?"

"I'm fine."

* * *

End Chapter 5

A/N: Having spent time in Germany, of course Ed would know about the existence of Japan... I'm sure he just figured he'd never find himself there!


	6. Introducing the Stranger

OMG, I'm alive! Long story short, senior year killed my non-technical creative juices (I had to use them all up on my senior design project). I have a really cool job now, in a petroleum pilot plant in my hometown.

I'm hoping that by posting this chapter, I'll find the inspiration to pull together what I've written in the interim, and also to keep going.

As always, thank you for your input, dewdropfirefly! You're awesome, and I miss you so much.

Even after all this time, I don't own any of these characters or the worlds they come from. I just like playing with them sometimes…

* * *

Chapter 6 – Introducing the Stranger

Heiji went home not long after the alchemy demonstration, with the explicit request to be informed of any new developments.

Dr Agasa appropriated the two pieces of automail in hopes of gaining even a basic understanding of how they worked, so that he could fashion something comparable for when Edward would be ready for them.

Ai and Conan wisely decided to let Edward rest as much as he needed to. They went to school the next day, trying to act as though everything was still normal.

* * *

At lunch time, the other three Detective Boys cornered the pair.

"Where were you guys yesterday," Ayumi asked. "We couldn't get in touch with either of you!"

"I bet they were off on a case without us…" Genta muttered.

Conan held his hands up and smiled. "Heh, heh… it was nothing like that!"

"Then what was it," Mitsuhiko asked.

"You two have been acting weird all morning," Ayumi remembered. "I wonder if it has anything to do with the guy we saw in the park…"

Conan tensed. "Which guy?"

She sighed. "The weird one in the old-looking clothes. He gave you your ball back, remember?"

"Oh yeah, him…"

"We don't know anything new," Ai said without looking up from the book she had opened, "but you three will be the first to know if we do."

There was a chorus of 'okay's before the bell rang to begin the afternoon classes.

* * *

Conan went with Ai to Dr Agasa's house after school. Edward was sitting on the sofa watching television when they got there. A single crutch lay on the floor nearby.

"You're up," Conan observed.

"Yeah… I still feel like crap, though."

"That was a pretty stupid stunt you pulled yesterday," Ai scolded.

Ed exploded. "How the hell was I supposed to know it would drain me? My body could handle it the last time I was this size!"

"That's exactly my point," she replied, unfazed by his outburst. "The circumstances have changed and you're in bad shape. You should have known better."

"You're not my guardian."

Conan observed the exchange with interest. In the short time they'd known each other he'd discovered increasing evidence of a strong independent streak in the alchemist.

"No, I'm not. However, I know exactly what's wrong with your immune system."

The detective interrupted her. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"He'll have to find out eventually, so it may as well be from the horse's mouth." When he didn't say anything else, she continued. "Elric-san, you're not going to like what I'm about to tell you. It would help greatly, though, if you can keep in mind that it's also why I came to live here and am doing what I'm doing."

Edward looked back and forth between the two of them. Ai took a deep breath as if preparing to reveal something big. Conan looked away as if the something big was information he wasn't terribly interested in hearing again. "What's the deal? The way you're acting… if I didn't know better, I'd think you were about to tell me you're the one who did it!"

Two pairs of eyes snapped back to look at the alchemist.

"I'm not an idiot."

"We didn't mean to make it seem like we thought you were. It's just taking a little getting used to there being someone else like us. Anyway, you're not far from the truth – I did make the poison. They forced me to. What they took from me was a prototype, and they fed it to Edogawa-kun. I'm surprised that they still haven't figured out what it does." She and Conan sat down in an attempt to make themselves comfortable.

"In other words, they could come after us at any moment?"

"Exactly," Conan replied, "which is why we both changed our names and enrolled in one of the local elementary schools. You're lucky in that respect, because no one knows who you are. Still, I think it would be a good idea for you to come to school with us once you recover. There's just one thing – I know you haven't told me everything yet. I would really appreciate it if you shared the rest with me."

Edward turned his head away.

"I find it hard to believe that you have bigger trust issues than Haibara. I told you I'm a detective – I like to know what I'm dealing with."

"Keep in mind that aside from Hattori-san and Dr Agasa, we're the only ones who have any clue what's going on," Ai added. "Actually, we have a better idea."

"Fine," Ed relented, "but there's a lot. Where should I begin?"

"I haven't heard any of it," she pointed out. "So how about you start at the beginning. How did you lose your arm and leg?"

"Alchemy – I was trying to perform a human transmutation, and both my brother and I paid the price for it." The other two not-kids listened quietly while he described his parents and his brother, and his friends in the military and the adventures he'd been on after the incident. He was in the middle of explaining about the homonculi when Conan remembered to look at the clock.

"It's almost dinner time and Ran will be expecting me. Can we continue this tomorrow?" He hopped down off the couch.

"Sure." The alchemist made to follow him. He centered himself over his right leg and picked up the crutch for balance. The other boy had already started turning to go. "Conan…"

He turned back and saw Edward standing up.

A strange look came over the blond's face as he found himself looking up a few centimeters just to make eye contact. "How tall are you?"

Conan raised his eyebrows. "Um… 99 centimeters last time I checked. Why?" He and Ai exchanged confused glances.

Ed laughed hesitantly in a noble, yet futile, attempt to hide a flinch. "Oh, no reason… I was just curious…" He shifted his weight to free his hand for a handshake. "Sorry it's my left hand, but I feel I should be thanking you."

"You're welcome," Conan replied, taking the other's hand with his own. "It's what I do. But don't get too comfortable – once you get your strength back, I hope you'll be able to help us."

"I was planning on it. It'd be pretty boring to sit back and do nothing."

Conan smiled. "Good. Until tomorrow, then."

Ed turned to Ai after the other boy left. "I'm already bored out of my mind being stuck here all day…"

* * *

Edward's condition improved in the following days. During that time, he and Conan exchanged information about their respective situations. At the end of the week, the alchemist agreed to let the other children come for a visit.

The following Monday, Genta, Ayumi, and Mitsuhiko went with Conan and Ai to Dr Agasa's house after school.

Ayumi was suspicious. "You guys have been running off every day, but today you invited us along. What changed?"

Conan and Ai glanced at each other in a silent discussion to determine exactly how much information to divulge.

The detective took charge of the explanation. He turned around and stopped the procession. "A friend of ours came to us in bad shape last week. He's been recovering well, and we've all agreed that he's ready for visitors."

Genta and Mitsuhiko didn't like that explanation. "You have another friend that we don't know about," the larger of the two exclaimed, ignoring the fact that the world did not revolve around him.

"Maybe it wasn't on purpose," Ayumi considered, always believing that Conan could do no wrong.

* * *

When they got to the house, Edward was in the same spot they'd found him in every afternoon since he was able to get out of bed. He broke his attention away from the television when he heard them shuffling around in the entryway. "This box is great," he called out. "I've been watching a lot of news reports."

The three children were surprised when they got into the living room, to find who the voice belonged to. It took them a while to feel comfortable looking at him, because the first thing they noticed on each attempt was that he was missing two limbs. They eventually met his eyes, though. He was blond, and his face looked strangely familiar.

"Hi, I'm Edward," he announced with a grin.

"You look better today," Conan observed. "How do you feel?"

"I feel better. I've been trying to help Dr Agasa too. The sooner that gets finished, the better."

"I agree."

Genta found the remote control, took it, and turned on the new episode of the kids' favorite show, _Kamen Yaiba_.

"Hey, I was watching that," Ed protested.

"No you weren't," the larger boy said. "You were talking to Conan."

Ai picked up the crutch that was lying on the floor and handed it to Edward. "Just let it go. The news will still be there later. This program will keep them occupied, and in the mean time I think we'd both like to see how much progress you made."

Dr Agasa looked up as the three not-children entered his lab, and greeted them. Parts and wires were strewn on the bench behind him. "I'm glad you're here."

"What is all this," Conan asked, looking at a set of very detailed notes and drawings.

The inventor faced them with a proud smile on his face. "I've been trying very hard to understand how the automail works. I think I figured out where the arm was broken, so I'm just about ready to start working on the new set. I just need to take some measurements."

Conan and Ai watched while Dr Agasa wrote down the lengths of Ed's arm and leg and made notes on the shapes of his hand and foot. When that was finished, all four of them went back out to the living room.

* * *

Ayumi turned off the television after the ending credits finished. She turned to face Ed. "I was thinking… Can you join our club?"

The alchemist turned wide-eyed to Conan and Ai as if they could advise him on the answer. When both of them just smirked, he turned back and said "Uh… sure."

Ayumi was ecstatic. Genta and Mitsuhiko on the other hand, were less than pleased. They saw the newcomer as more competition for the girls' attention.

Dr Agasa cleared his throat. "Edward-kun will also be joining you in school as soon as he's able. He is well, as you can see, but he's not exactly mobile."

"I bet you're gonna make something really cool for him," Ayumi said knowingly, "like… a scooter or something!"

The inventor crossed his arms smugly. "I'm going to do better than that! I'm going to build a new arm and leg for him!" He started laughing maniacally, and the children waited patiently for him to realize how crazy it made him look.

"Wow," Genta exclaimed. "Can you really do that?"

"Eh… heh, heh… well, I'm going to try. I have a very good example to work off of."

"I hope you can do it," Ayumi said encouragingly.

"Me too," Mitsuhiko chimed in. "I want to see them when they're finished."

"If everything goes right, you'll at least get to see them when I start going to school with you," Ed commented.

"The trio chuckled a little bit. "Oh, yeah…"

* * *

A/N: Only a couple things about the story itself, that I'd like to address. First, I had a suggestion from Ooshii Kurai to extend the pre-poison segment. For a while, I seriously considered doing that… but then I felt that it wouldn't be that meaningful to me. The main purpose of that part of the story was to set up the conflict (which I admit it only did crudely)… and I've moved far enough past that point, that I feel it would be better to just keep pressing forward.

Second, for those of you who usually measure lengths in inches (like I do), 99 centimeters is approximately 3 feet and 3 inches. Dewdropfirefly and I looked up Conan's height, and that was what we found. We assumed that Ed's shrunk-height would be slightly shorter than that, approximately 94 centimeters. We chose to use SI units because that's what most of the world uses, and it makes more sense that way. For an amusing rendition, feel free to check out dewdropfirefly's profile on deviantArt. The picture is called "Life isn't fair".


	7. First Steps

Whoa, I'm updating! Is the world ending, or something? Actually, I've been sitting on this chapter for a while, but I lost a handwritten section and had to redo that part, which was really annoying. Unfortunately, I only have a vague idea of how to get from this part to the next big plot element, so it might be quite a while before the next update.

I don't own any of these guys. I'm just borrowing them for our mutual amusement.

* * *

Chapter 7: First Steps

Ed helped Dr Agasa assemble the new set of automail over the next couple weeks. It was a daunting task, and the older man constantly marveled at how the objects he was building were really going to do what they were designed for. Sometimes Ai came in and helped them too, but she mostly kept to her own work; and several times each week, the other children came by and gave them all a chance to relax for a couple hours.

A month and a half after Ed had arrived in Tokyo, the automail was almost ready. He called Ai and Dr Agasa together. "I don't want anyone else here when we attach the new automail. It left me in pain the first time, back at home. I sort-of got used to the periodic transitions after a while, but I learned the hard way that things have changed and there's no way of knowing how I'll react this time. It's something the others don't need to see."

"I agree with you about the three children," Ai mused, "but it would be good to have at least one more set of eyes and hands nearby. I'll let Edogawa-kun know that we're ready."

The alchemist considered the suggestion for a few seconds before consenting to include the detective.

Conan joined Ai on the way home after school the next day. When they got to Dr Agasa's house, he saw that they had already attached new metal sockets to Ed's leg and shoulder where the automail limbs would soon connect to.

Ed laid down on a makeshift bed in the lab. Dr Agasa brought over his new version of the automail and set them down in the appropriate spots with respect to Ed's body. The alchemist directed each scientist to stand next to one. "I want you to attach them both at the same time."

There was a moment of stunned silence while the other three looked back and forth between themselves before Ai asked "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. It's gonna shock my nervous system, but I've learned over the years that it's better to do them both at once – real quick, like ripping off a band-aid."

Conan moved next to his head. "Okay, then. Ready?"

"I've been ready."

On the count of three, Ai hooked the leg into the knee socket and Dr Agasa hooked the arm into the shoulder socket. Ed screamed out and started sweating. He was already passed out in the time Conan took to walk a few steps to retrieve a damp washcloth.

* * *

The three conscious members of the group sat in chairs around Ed's bed so they could monitor his condition. "He's so reckless," Ai observed while they waited for him to wake up again. She felt like she was starting to sound like a broken record.

"Perhaps… but he also seems to know what he's doing," Dr Agasa replied even though he knew the excuse was as flimsy as it sounded.

"That's a load of crap, and you know it," Ai retorted. "He only thinks he knows better than we do. Well, we're scientists too, and if there's anything I've learned from this life, it's to believe what my eyes show me." Conan stared at her, surprised by the outburst.

Ed began to stir before any more could be said on the subject. He dragged his open left hand across his face and blinked a few times to make sure he was really awake, and then tried to lift his right arm. Even though the automail was made out of relatively light-weight metal, it still took a considerable amount of effort just to raise the hand to his face and check the fingers' flexibility. When he was satisfied, he forced himself up onto his elbows, and then into a fully upright sitting position. He kicked his left foot out a few times and wiggled the toes before jumping down to the floor.

"Are you sure you should be up and moving around," the one who understood the least about the technical side of the process, asked.

Edward slowly made his way to the open spot in the semi-circle. The others could see that his movements were laborious. "I'll be fine," he replied slowly. "I'm just not used to it after having gone without for so many weeks. At home, I used to spar with my brother after getting repaired, but none of you seem the fighting type. Do you know anyone I could practice with?"

"It just so happens that we do," Conan said with a sly grin.

* * *

The next day, Conan waited for Ran outside the high school. After the bell rang, he watched her approach the gate accompanied by Sonoko. The karate champion noticed the boy standing there and made an excuse to part ways with her best friend. He then explained where they were going and why.

A short time later, they arrived at Dr Agasa's house and went inside. Ran froze mid-step when she entered the living room. Something didn't seem quite right to her about the blond boy who was sitting on the sofa. It took her a minute to realize that the color of the skin on one arm and leg didn't match his face or other arm and leg. She found her voice after a few more seconds. "You… want to spar with me?"

Edward stood up and walked over to her, ignoring her abrupt bluntness. She looked down at him and noticed that he was about as tall as Conan. No – he was actually a little bit shorter. He introduced himself, and she replied with her own name. He pretended not to notice her scrutiny.

Edward looked up at her with a very serious expression, and if she had been paying close enough attention she might have wondered if there was something weird going on. He quickly changed it to a smile and said "I'm a lot stronger than I look."

"Yet not as strong as you think you are," Ai added with as much seriousness as the alchemist's face had displayed a few seconds ago. "It will probably take a week or two for you to get used to the prosthetics again. Ran-san, please go easy on him."

They had their match a couple days later, in one of the practice rooms at Ran's dojo. At first, Ed moved clumsily, just as Ai had predicted. After a few minutes, though, Ran noticed that he was becoming more comfortable with his metal limbs. She was surprised that they were pretty evenly matched as long as she didn't push herself. "I'm impressed, that was good," she told him afterwards.

"Thanks."

"How did you get to be so strong?"

"I used to practice with my brother. I never could manage to beat him, though." He chuckled a little bit at the last point.

"Do you miss him?"

"Yeah… We used to travel together a lot, and met some interesting people along the way. I can only hope he made it back home after I left."

Ran put her hand on his shoulder, turned him to face her, and knelt down to hug him. "I'm sure you'll get to see him again someday," she said, oblivious to the look of shock on his face.

* * *

The following Sunday evening, Ai, Conan, Edward, and Dr Agasa gathered in the scientist's living room. "All set to come to school with us tomorrow, Ed," Conan asked.

"Sure, I guess… whatever it takes for me to figure out how to get home."

"The first thing, of course, is to find some leads. Unfortunately, we don't really know where to start, so any searching will be difficult without a good cover. It'll be more natural for people to see you with us if we make it normal that you're around."

The other two gave small nods, and Dr Agasa took something from his pocket and handed it to Ed. Conan gave an approving nod as Ed turned the small communication device over in his hands.

"All five of us have them," Ai explained. "You make the sixth 'Detective Boy'," she added with a wry grin.

"They have come in handy in the past, so be careful not to lose it or break it."

"Gotcha."

* * *

When they got to school in the morning, they took Ed to the office and introduced him to the teacher, and then left him so that she could be the one to take him to the classroom. They could tell that he wasn't terribly happy to be alone in there, but also knew it wouldn't be long until he'd be with them again.

Ai and Conan could hear generic excited chatter from the other students as they approached the classroom. They looked at each other and the former shrugged. "Never underestimate the power of nosey children," she observed.

They went to their seats, and a few minutes later the teacher entered the room, pushing Ed in front of her. "Class, we have a new student joining us today." She leaned part way down to his level. "Would you like to introduce yourself?"

The alchemist glanced around the room, trying to gauge the personalities of some of the students. He noticed Genta, Ayumi, and Mitsuhiko all sitting near each other, and in the row behind them were Ai and Conan. He smiled and made a small bow. "I'm Edward Elric, it's nice to meet you."

"Does anyone have any questions for Edward?"

The students were in awe of the alchemist's blond hair. Most of them sat silently for a good half minute, until one of the bolder girls raised her hand. "Where are you from?"

He shot Conan a pointed look, but when the detective didn't reply he told the class he was from Germany. He knew it wasn't entirely false, but he also knew that the actual truth was inappropriate in situations like these. That response, though, elicited murmurs of amazement, which caught Ai's and Conan's attention. It also brought on a barrage of additional questions.

"What's it like there?"

"Are there a lot of people with light hair?"

"What kind of music do they listen to there?"

"Have you ever heard of Kamen Yaiba?"

"How do you know Japanese so well?"

The students asked their questions all at the same time and Ed had trouble trying to distinguish them, let alone choose which one to answer first. The teacher noticed this and intervened. "Okay, class, let's give him a break on his first day. Edward, why don't you go take your seat." He moved down the aisle toward the open seat next to Genta that Ai hadn't taken on her first day in the class. "Now that that's taken care of, how 'bout we get started," the teacher continued once he was settled.

The rest of the day and week followed uneventfully.

* * *

On Saturday, Dr Agasa took all six children to Tropical Land to celebrate Ed's first week of school. They rode a lot of the rides together, but Ed, Ai, and Conan stayed behind when the other three wanted to go on the teacups. The scientist could tell that even though it had only been a week since Ed was really allowed to leave the house, he was already getting restless at the wait involved in the search for leads on places to look for finding him a way home.

The three not-children sat at a picnic table with Dr Agasa while they waited for the other three to come back from the ride. "It's very strange that you were so close to getting home, and then it brought you here instead," Conan observed for the umpteenth time.

Ed rested his chin on one of his palms. "I know. I've been trying to figure that out myself. In the past, there was always some ulterior motive for me being sent to the towns I went to…" He let that stew for a few seconds. "This time, the only controlling factor was the Gate, which has always seemed to operate by some unknown set of rules. I guess Fate has something more in store for me."

Ai turned her head to the side to look at the people walking by. "Fate…" she spit out.

* * *

End Chapter 7

A/N: So, Ai ended another chapter. I'm not sure why, but I like how she feels so dramatic to me – it's like she adds that particular element to balance the lightness of the three Detective Boys. Conan and Ed probably could have carried the drama by themselves, but most people can only stand a certain level of guy-angst. :P

In other news, I really appreciate all the favorites and alerts you guys are putting for me. I do want to know what you think, too, though... so don't be afraid to leave a review. Some of you might be disappointed to learn that I won't be continuing my other story "Where in the World is Kaitou KID" - it simply didn't have a real goal, so I got bored with it. However, don't think you've heard the last from him. He's a fun character, and his antics are bound to crop up again :P


	8. Exploring the Options

After such a long time, I'm finally ready to post this chapter. It took more effort to get through, because I think I have trouble with the in-between parts... but I'm happy with where things are going. I'm still on track with where I want it to head in general, so I'm gonna try hard to keep moving forward.

As usual, none of the characters belong to me.

* * *

Chapter 8: Exploring the Options

"You don't think there's a reason you're here," Ed asked pointedly.

"I don't think I worked on the drug that poisoned us so that I would be able to find a way to escape the Syndicate," she replied. On the surface, the words seemed to simply fall from her lips, but both Ed and Conan knew how much bitterness lingered beneath them. "But as you're well aware, I'm here now so that I can work on the antidote."

"How long have you guys been at this project, anyway?"

"A couple years… I don't really remember anymore. It's difficult to make any real progress. I've come up with temporary antidotes, but nothing that gets rid of the poison completely. It also doesn't help that there have been times we've changed back without taking an antidote, temporary or otherwise."

"The first time I ever changed back," Conan interrupted, "was also the first time I met Hattori. He had breezed into town to offer me a challenge, but I wasn't feeling well that day. He also didn't recognize me in this body, which was perfectly fine by me. He had a bottle of alcohol with him, with the intent to cause a little trouble, and claimed that drinking some would help cure my cold." He looked Ed straight in the eyes. "It didn't. What it did do was interact with the poison to disable it for a while, and we think that my being sick had something to do with it. I was really disappointed to find out that I wouldn't be staying normal for long – the 'fix' only lasted about an hour."

"But he obviously figured it out eventually, since he clearly treats you like an equal," the alchemist guessed, derailing the conversation topic.

"Yeah, that was the second time we met. I decided to use him to make my deduction in a case because I knew he'd catch me if I used someone else… but he woke up part way through, and caught me anyway." Ed laughed out loud as the detective recounted the aftermath of the "Holmes freak" murder case.

Genta, Ayumi, and Mitsuhiko came back from the ride they had gone on. Ayumi had a starry look in her eyes that worried Conan. "I had a great idea while we were on the teacups," she announced. "Conan, would you like to go on the Ferris Wheel?" She thought she was being clever, not saying the 'with me' out loud, but everyone else at the picnic table saw right through it.

There were a couple seconds of very pregnant silence before Ai saved Conan from either being stuck alone with the other girl, or having to turn her down, suggesting that they all go together and reminding them that the Ferris Wheel cars each had six seats.

* * *

When Ed and Ai got home that night, he followed her to her workspace in the laboratory. "Do you remember anything about the formula of the poison, or the process you used to make it?"

"Only bits and pieces," she answered. "It's an organic compound that's formed in a rather complex process. I remember the quantities of most of the atoms that are in it, but in all my testing I haven't been able to duplicate how they were arranged. The biggest road block has been availability of equipment. Dr Agasa is a scientist, but he mostly works on mechanical inventions and whatnot. I can't really use what he has, so in most cases I have to improvise. Sometimes the results of individual steps come out how I expect them to, but I'm still missing at least three or four things near the end, so I'm obviously not there yet… and I can't figure out a complete antidote without knowing everything about the original compound." She sighed. "I also don't know what exactly the Apotoxin does – whether it stays whole or breaks down, whether it binds with something else or floats around by itself."

Ed listened patiently. Having had the need to improvise at various points in his past, the wheels in his mind were already turning. Unfortunately, he didn't like the place where his options led him. "A key aspect of alchemy is the thorough understanding of the material you're working with. In that respect, I might be able to help. There was a guy I knew once who was able to stop his alchemy after the step of breaking the material down, and was able to kill a lot of people that way. It was horrible, but it showed me it's possible to use alchemy without actually transmuting something." He saw her eyes widen and start to shine with an involuntary hint of tears, and immediately regretted what he had to tell her next. "There's a problem, though. It's a bad idea to perform alchemy on humans - capital B, capital I. I could get around that with the help of the Philosopher's Stone, but the sacrifice required to obtain one is much greater than the benefit of having it. They're almost impossible to find, and I refuse to make one."

She shrugged her shoulders. "It's hard to be optimistic, but any day now I could have a breakthrough. We might not need to search for other methods of finding a cure." The tone she used to say the words betrayed what she really thought of the chances.

"Yeah…" He left, then, to go to bed. She sat at the computer until she couldn't hold her eyes open any longer.

* * *

In English class the next day, the students were learning how to read and write simple words and phrases. Ai situated her notebook in such a way that Conan could see what she was writing, and amongst the seemingly random letters was the sentence 'Ed might know a way to cure us with alchemy, but he's very reluctant to use it.'

The detective was hard pressed to keep his reaction to himself. He started thinking about everything associated with that prospect – a "reunion" with Ran, and a chance to take down the Organization and get his life back. He glanced over at the blonde boy and thought for a moment before placing his own notebook in line of sight of the girl sitting beside him. 'What makes him so scared of it?'

'No human alchemy without the Philosopher's Stone.'

He read her last line several times before looking back up at her. He remembered what the alchemist had said about the "grooming" process he'd gone through in the world he used to live in, and knew he couldn't put the other boy through that again. The detective didn't know whether such a gemstone already existed in this world, but any lead was worth a shot. He wrote one final line before turning his attention back to the teacher: 'I'll look into it.'

At lunch time, Conan took out his cell phone and made a very long distance call. The person who picked up at the other end greeted him excitedly, and then called out to the other person in the room: "Yusaku, guess who's on the phone! Come here, he probably wants to talk to you." She giggled as she handed the phone to her husband.

"Hi there, Shinichi."

"Hi dad. I was wondering if you could help me with something."

The writer's tone suddenly turned serious. "Is everything okay? This isn't an 'I'm in desperate trouble' call, is it?"

"No, no… nothing like that." He could feel his father's demeanor relax. "I can't tell you much, mostly because I don't quite understand it myself, but I was wondering if you know anything about a precious gem called the Philosopher's Stone."

Yusaku took a few seconds to think, before responding. "It's a mythical substance that has been said to grant immortality, and nobody knows whether it really exists or not. People have searched for it in every generation, with no success. How did you hear about it?"

The small detective was unsure how much he really felt comfortable saying. In the end, he decided that the bare minimum would be okay. "I met someone who's looking for it, even though he claims that he's not."

"No good fortune has come to those who search for the stone. I'll see what kind of information I can dig up, but I implore you to please be careful."

"Okay, thanks dad. I look forward to hearing about what you find."

"Would you like to speak with your mother?"

"Ah, no, that's okay. I'm at school, and I should be getting back to the other kids, so maybe another time."

"Okay, then, talk to you later."

Conan disconnected the call and went over to where the other four children were throwing around a baseball.

"Where'd you go," Genta asked.

"I was talking on the phone to Kudo ojii-san," he replied with his best kid-grin.

Mitsuhiko had to make sure he heard correctly. "Shinichi-niichan's dad?"

"Yeah. I wanted to ask him how Shinichi-niichan is doing."

Edward looked back and forth between the other kids, seeing that the three Detective Boys accepted this answer at face value. But Ai's face showed a different reaction - she'd known the young detective long enough to understand what a call to Kudo Yusaku really meant.

* * *

Ai pulled Conan aside on the way home from school that afternoon. "So that's your big plan?"

He shrugged in response. "What's wrong? It's hard for me to get enough time alone to do the proper research, and he has a better variety of contacts than I do. It seemed like a no-brainer."

"So what did he say?"

"He doesn't know much more about it than you and I do. He agreed to help, but warned me to be extra careful."

She gave him an incredulous glance. "I guess there's not much we can do now besides waiting."

"Yeah..."

* * *

End Chapter 8

They are now at the beginning of the path I have appointed for them /grin/. I hope to get back into some action soon, because that's a lot more interesting to write. I also found a place to watch streaming episodes of Conan, so I'm gradually figuring out how to distribute time among my job and all my for-fun projects.

I'm really happy that you guys are enjoying the story!

Next time: Shinichi hears back from his dad.


	9. History

Hi, it's me again! I know what you're all thinking – "holy crap, it's been less than a year, and she's already making another update!" Well… I think I finally got through the slowest bit last time, and this chapter was much easier to write. Unfortunately, I haven't quite gotten to the next one yet, but I hope you'll all continue to stick with me. /smile

* * *

Chapter 9: History

A few days later, Conan was hanging out in the detective agency. He and Ran were sharing the newspaper, while Kogoro was watching one of Okino Yoko's tv programs and drinking a can of his favorite beer. The telephone on Kogoro's desk rang, breaking the peace. Ran waited for her father to pick up the receiver. When he didn't, she did, and put it to her ear.

"Hello, Mouri Detective Agency... oh, Kudo-san!"

At the mention of that particular family name, both men turned their attention to the half of the conversation that they could hear.

"What's he calling here for," Kogoro asked with a sneer. He couldn't believe that another man would have the gall to interrupt one of his favorite tv shows.

Ran ignored him, continuing with the phone. "The boy with the glasses... you mean Conan? Yes, he's right here." She took the receiver away from her ear and put a hand over the mouthpiece. "Conan-kun, I think he'd like to speak with you."

"Okay!" The boy jumped off the sofa and went over to take the phone from her. "Hello?"

Kudo Yusaku spoke to his son. "Hi, Shinichi. I know you're unable to speak freely to me right now, but I wanted to let you know about the information I found about the stone. There was more than I expected. After some digging, I was able to find files on a few of the searches that have been conducted in the last several generations. I scanned them into the computer and sent them to Agasa, so you'll be able to get them from him."

"Oh, good! I'm glad to hear that."

"Every single one of those searches ended with the hunter dying before he reached his goal. This worries me, Shinichi. Are you sure you can't tell me anything?"

"I'm sure. I'm not alone, so we'll be okay. Thank you very much!"

"They weren't alone either."

Conan wasn't sure how to take that at first, but he couldn't show his concern to the Mouris or else they might get suspicious. Instead, he thanked his father again, told him to say hello to his mother, and hung up the phone. He went over to the door and opened it. "See you later, Ran-neechan. I'm going over to Dr Agasa's house."

It had all happened so quickly that she couldn't think of anything to say besides "Don't stay out too late."

In the mean time, Kogoro had gone back to his own world once he found out that the phone call didn't involve him.

* * *

Conan rang the bell at Dr Agasa's. It was less than half a minute before the door opened to reveal Edward.

"Hey there, Conan. What brings you here?"

The detective wasn't expecting to see the alchemist at the door. "Just thought I'd come say hi. Is Ai or Dr Agasa around?"

"Yeah, they're in the lab. Come on in."

Conan followed Ed through the kitchen, towards the back of the house. The two scientists turned away from their computer monitors when they heard him come in.

"Hi, Doc. My dad said he sent you some stuff in an e-mail for me, and I was wondering if I could have a look at it."

"Dad," Ed asked. "I thought you said you were living with Ran and her father."

"Yeah, that's right. My parents moved overseas before I started high school. I still keep in touch with them periodically."

They all crowded around Dr Agasa's computer while he opened his e-mail inbox. At the top of the list were two messages from Kudo Yusaku, labeled as "Information about the Philosopher's Stone" parts 1 and 2. Conan sighed, wishing his dad had thought to use code words in the subject lines and file names, but it hadn't occurred to him that Ed would be there when he received them. Had he asked for the courtesy, he would've had to give his father more information about the increasingly odd situation.

Ed didn't know what to think. On the one hand, he was surprised and excited for the possibility that the stone already existed in this world. On the other hand, though, he was angry that Conan had gone ahead and done this. He was eager to change his body back to what would otherwise be considered normal and go home, but he was already getting worried about what the search would entail. "Knowing what you know, why are you so willing to bring this on yourself?"

Conan wasn't sure how to respond. He looked back and forth between the other three faces a few times. "It's partially because you're not," he admitted. "I'm tired of being in this body, and I'm tired of living in constant fear of my identity being discovered. A lead is a lead. I don't know if there's anything valuable there, but it's worth a look."

They copied the files onto a disc so that he could take them home and look at them on the file reader that Dr Agasa had disguised for him as a portable CD player.

* * *

Later that night, after Conan had returned to the detective agency and everyone had gone to sleep, he turned on the file reader and loaded the disc into the slot. He spent several hours staring at the glowing screen trying to glean as much useful information as he could from what his father had sent him. There were photos of the people who had attempted the search, as well as illustrations of what they thought the Philosopher's Stone might look like. Included in each file was a short obituary describing the unusual death of each team member. He only read a few of these, determined not to let the gory details intimidate him.

Many of the files listed at least one participant as having disappeared completely, without any trace of their last whereabouts or ever having existed at all aside from within the memories of their families.

He went through the files chronologically, starting with the earliest ones. They pretty much all said the same thing – the stone was a blood-red color and made of some unknown material that supposedly granted the wish of the person that held it. He stared at the small screen incredulously. A few months ago, he would have taken that last little bit of information as a complete load of crap. Now, though, he wasn't quite sure what to think. He found a good stopping point, turned off the machine, and went to sleep.

* * *

The next few days were busy, between school, running around with the Detective Boys, and a new case Kogoro had been hired on. Conan was expected to be in attendance at all those places, and so he fell asleep as soon as he went to bed each night.

It wasn't until the following Monday that he had enough time to himself to continue reading the files from where he left off. He was surprised as he went along, to notice how many different names the piece of rock had. Sometimes it was obvious that they used a code word to avoid arousing suspicion. Other times, though, it wasn't so clear, and he was amazed that they had been able to connect it to the string of searches. One such code name caught his attention.

'Pandora…' he thought, 'like "Pandora's Box"? No… there's another reason that particular name sounds so familiar.' Rather than wracking his brain to think of the answer, he kept reading.

As he got to the more recent files, the name "Pandora" was mentioned with increasing frequency. The date stamp on the very last file said "1965 to present". He found it hard to believe that someone had managed to keep going for forty years… and somehow they were still at it. He nearly dropped the reader when he opened the file. There on the screen was the picture and (very) short description of an individual with whom he was all too familiar.

"Kaitou KID," he muttered.

Somewhere across town a wild-haired high school student sneezed in his sleep.

* * *

The following morning, Conan was still mulling over what he'd learned. It consumed him so much that he went from class to class without engaging in what was going on around him.

In English class, Ai slid her notebook into his line of vision. 'You're not usually this spaced-out. What's going on?'

He did similarly. 'I finished reading those files.'

'And?'

'Guess who the current hunter for the Philosopher's Stone is.' He waited two seconds while she thought. Before she could begin a reply, he started writing again. 'Kaitou KID'

The sharp intake of breath caught the teacher's attention. "Do you have something to share, Haibara-san?" Her meek reply in the negative garnered giggles from the other children. "Good. Can you please translate the line I wrote on the board?"

The scientist stood from her seat. "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog."

"Very good. Why is this sentence special?"

"It uses every letter in the Roman alphabet at least once."

"T-that's right…"

Ai returned to her seat amidst more giggles from her classmates.

"Oi, Haibara," Conan muttered.

She shrugged. "It's okay to show off a little every once in a while."

'What do you plan to do about it,' she wrote after the teacher had regained control of the class.

'I haven't decided yet.'

They both stole a quick glance across the aisle at Edward, turning back before he noticed.

'I can't just not share the information with him.'

* * *

That evening, Conan, Ed, and Ai gathered on the sofas in the detective agency. Ran had gone out with Sonoko after dinner, and Kogoro was already passed out in front of the television.

Ed was holding the file viewer. He scanned through the information from the e-mails Conan had received. The detective and the scientist had their attentions focused on the newspaper when they heard him gasp.

"Hoenheim."

"What?"

The alchemist let out a sarcastic chuckle. "I shouldn't be so surprised that he's included in this file. I'm just glad _I'm_ not in any of the pictures. I never want to be associated with that bastard again." He turned the machine around so that the small screen was facing them. "See this woman? He was helping her open a portal to cross over into the other world. You can't do that from this side without the Stone, or at least a reasonable approximation of it." He turned the screen back to himself, to see what had been written about the man.

After a few seconds of confused silence, Conan asked the question he wasn't prepared to hear the answer to: "Who is he?"

"He's my father."

* * *

End Chapter 9

A/N: Alright, I suppose I told a little white lie about not including details from the FMA movie… but it's only a little thing, and it doesn't have any real effect on the continuity, so I think it's okay. When I said it, I wasn't expecting things to go like this.

Anyway, this is now officially my longest story!

Catch you guys next time! /smile


	10. Resisting the Compulsion

Hi! Me again! You guys probably didn't think you'd see me again so soon, but I think my creative bug finally came back… and about time, too! My senior design project was so long ago, even I thought I'd come back to writing sooner than that. Oh, well. Here's the next exciting installment of "Fullmetal Detective"!

(I don't own any parts of Fullmetal Alchemist or Detective Conan)

* * *

Chapter 10: Resisting the Compulsion

Ai and Conan couldn't believe their ears. Edward hadn't given them any reason yet to think he was lying to them, and so the truth was becoming increasingly stranger than any sort of fictitious story he could have fed them.

"So… how old are you," the scientist asked.

"Eighteen, just like you two.* Geez, would you cut it out? I'm not lying! The man in that picture is my father, and I was there the day it was taken."

"But it was taken in the 1930's," Conan reasoned. "If you were there, how did you get here?"

"I already told you. I had been trying to get home. A few months after that picture was taken, I drove my propeller plane over a waterfall, landed without it in front of The Gate, and was unceremoniously dropped into Baker Park. I'm sorry I can't prove it to you, but my personal timeline didn't change during the incident – I am the same now as I was before I left Germany." He sighed at the frustration of having to re-explain things to the two people with whom he felt he could really be himself. "This is why I never tried to emphasize any sort of truth in what I was telling my friends in Germany. They wouldn't have believed me any more than you two do."

"Why was he helping her?" Conan asked, veering away from one sensitive topic in favor of another one.

"I never quite understood that part. By that time, he already knew about the stone's key ingredient. For all I know, he might have just not cared. He used to apologize to me sometimes for leaving so soon after Al was born, but I could tell he never meant it. His research meant more to him than anything else. I inherited a little of that mentality, and it makes me sick – I, myself, once came close to making a stone for the homonculi… luckily, Al was there to stop me." He stopped abruptly, and looked back and forth between them. "I'm sorry, you guys asked about my father and I changed the subject."

"That's okay, we can tell it's a tough subject for you."

"No, I'm just bitter. What he did to himself was much worse than what my brother and I did." He stared silently at his hands while the other two waited for him to continue.

Half a minute passed before he resumed in a barely audible voice: "I never found out how old he really was. After he met my mother, he stopped using the stone to transfer his soul from one body to the next."

Ai's eyes widened, and she clapped a hand over her mouth.

"What?" Conan asked.

"You heard me correctly. He was looking for the key to immortality, but he never found it because he always had an imperfect stone!"

"Do you know how to make a complete stone?"

"No. Even though I've gone before the Gate of Truth several times, on purpose or otherwise, that knowledge is nowhere to be found. I'm guessing my father was aware of that too, so he decided to use imitation stones while he searched for the real one."

Ai finally rediscovered her voice. "Based on what you've already told us, something must have happened when your father switched bodies…"

"Yeah. Souls bind best to the bodies they're born into. I was really lucky when I bound Al's soul to that suit of armor… but from what I understand, each time my father changed bodies, he caused a slowly increasing amount of damage to both his soul and the body he was moving into."

"All in the name of immortality…the perpetual Fountain of Youth…"

"Is it possible he switched bodies again after you came here?" Conan asked, unsuccessfully attempting to be subtle.

"You're wondering if he's hiding somewhere? I don't think so… he claimed that he didn't love anyone as much as he loved my mom. After she died, I think he resolved to live the rest of his life as she knew him. Not only that, but he once showed me a little of the physical damage on his body. He told me that he didn't want to keep going like that."

"Well, hold on to the viewer for a couple days," Conan suggested. "You can use it to see how the search has been going."

"No! I already told you I don't want to go down that path again!"

"Haibara has spent a lot of time working on a chemical cure, with only limited success, so we're open to other alternatives. What do you suggest?" He lashed out, barely keeping hold of his temper.

The alchemist sighed. "I don't know. I haven't been at this as long as you guys have."

Conan stuck to his resolve. "Just hold on to the viewer. As a man of science, I thought you'd want to have all the information in front of you."

Ed stood up, taking the machine from the other boy. "Thanks, but don't expect to be able to change my mind." He walked out the door, closing it a little harder than he intended and rousing Kogoro from his slumber.

The older detective lifted his head and opened his eyes part way. When he saw nothing out of the ordinary, he lowered his head back to the desk and fell back to sleep.

"Now what?" Ai asked.

"I want to meet Kaitou KID face-to-face. The only problem is that we don't know who he really is… but I can try to work on that. In the mean time, you should go walk with Ed and make sure he doesn't get lost on the way home."

"Okay, see you later, then. Good Luck."

"You too."

She stood up, then, and left. Conan went upstairs and crawled into bed.

* * *

Ai wasn't worried about Ed getting lost. He'd already been in Tokyo for a few months, so something was wrong if he didn't know his way between the detective agency and Dr Agasa's house. She started making her way home, and found the alchemist only a couple blocks away. He was walking slowly, with his head tilted down. She called out his name as she approached, and noticed the tell-tale signs of someone trying to hide something, when his head shot up and she heard the distinct sound of plastic hitting plastic.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "I wasn't expecting this stuff to turn up again. Before I went to Germany, I thought this search was the means to achieving my purpose in life. I didn't know what to do as I started learning more and more of the truth. When I went to Germany, I learned science from the perspective traditionally accepted in this world, trying to stay as far as I could from alchemy and anything related to the Stone. Obviously, that didn't work."

She glanced sideways at him as they walked. "Don't you feel better, knowing that you could converse equally well with an alchemist as with someone who studies natural chemistry?"

"I guess… but it's starting to feel like I'm destined to be the one to find the true Philosopher's Stone. I don't want to, and I'm not interested in helping anyone who tries…"

"That doesn't mean you have to stop studying. I think I would want to know how the search has been going, if I was in your shoes."

"I don't want to… but I don't think I can help the compulsion I feel."

"Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"No. I do think you're wrong, though. It _will_ help me to just leave it behind, and continue pursuing other possibilities."

Ai didn't say anything else after that. She knew that if she tried, she would have to explain Conan's plan, and she wasn't sure how the alchemist would take it.

Ed also walked silently, lost among his memories.

* * *

The next day, in the "Features" section of the newspaper, there was an article about a new collection being exhibited at the art museum. The key piece in the showcase was a simple but elegant tiara encrusted with a smattering of small diamonds. What caught Kuroba Kaito's attention, though, was the medium-sized oval ruby located front and center on the small crown.

Nakamori Aoko watched him set the paper down on his desk. "What's got you so excited this morning?" she asked. Instead of giving her a real answer, he pointed to the accompanying photo, while his eyes continued to follow the words across the page. She leaned over to look at the picture. "Oooh, pretty."

"Yeah, and this probably isn't the last time we'll see it in the paper."

She tilted her head so she could look him in the eyes. "Do you know something I don't?"

Kaito played innocent, as usual. "Of course not, idiot. They just made such a point of publicizing it, that it seems like a prime target for Kaitou KID."

"I'm gonna tell my father you said that. We'll see who gets the last laugh this time!" She was about to incite a physical attack on her friend, when the teacher entered the room to begin class.

* * *

Ran came home that afternoon and extracted the mail from the mailbox before going inside to greet her father. She noticed that one of the envelopes only had her father's name on it, with no return address or postal markings. She immediately knew what it meant.

* * *

End Chapter 10

A/N: I love my readers! Although… I can't tell if it's that you're all really smart, or if I make things way too obvious (or perhaps both… /smile/ ). Anyway, I already started in on the next chapter, which I think will finally include the segment I wrote way back towards the beginning (omg… has it really been that long ago?). Yay!

On another note, I'd like to thank Fyliwion and her story "Where Phantoms Tread", and for allowing me to use the idea of the possibility that Pandora and the Philosopher's Stone are one and the same.

*Conan and Ai never actually got around to telling Ed how old they are, he just made an estimate based roughly on his own age and his observations.


	11. Phantom Thieves

Hello again! It's time for a new installment of the story! You know… it's a goofy thing… when I started writing fanfiction, I went back to writing mostly on paper instead of the computer, because it forced my thoughts to slow down (I can type almost as fast as I process thoughts, which is bad for stories because I might miss something). Anyway, I was just kinda going along, and then took a break to transcribe it to the computer, and suddenly found myself at a good chapter break. Usually I see them coming, but this one snuck up on me, so you all get a treat today /grin/.

I still don't own the characters, but I am still having fun playing with them.

* * *

Chapter 11: Phantom Thieves

Kogoro ripped open the letter as soon as he saw it, knowing as well as his daughter had, who it was from. He gritted his teeth as he read the contents.

Ran and Conan watched over his shoulder, and the boy took out his small notepad to jot down the riddle for later. 'Great! This is my chance,' he thought with a big grin on his face.

Ran noticed his excitement. "Is everything okay, Conan-kun? You don't usually get quite this worked up about KID heists."

"Huh? Oh, it's a secret!" He ran off to find a quiet place to decipher the riddle, leaving Ran and her father to attempt it themselves.

When Conan sat down again with his notepad and opened it to the page with the riddle, he was surprised to discover that it wasn't as hard to understand as he expected it to be, as if it had been formulated in haste. He determined the target to be a piece in the new exhibit he'd seen in the newspaper, which pinpointed the location for him. The toughest part of the riddle was figuring out what day and time KID would show up. However, as with previous heist riddles, that detail didn't prove to be much of a challenge either. The more he thought about it, and thought about the news report, he remembered that the exhibit would only be there for a week – meaning that if the thief wanted to do his thing, he had no choice but to do it soon.

He took out his cell phone and placed a call to Osaka.

"Yo, Kudo! Has there been a break in the case?"

Before Conan could voice a reply, he heard someone else in the background behind his friend. "Is that really Kudo-kun? Tell him that if he doesn't come back soon, I'm gonna tell Ran-chan to forget about him for good!"

"Mind your own business, Kazuha! This is important!"

"More important than a woman's feelings… I get it." She left in a huff, and Conan heard the door slam.

Heiji sighed into the telephone. "She's gone now. What's up?"

"I'm going after Kaitou KID."

"Really? What kind of antics is he up to this time?"

Conan shrugged, even though he knew his friend couldn't see it. "He's up to what he's always up to - stealing something. The difference is this time there's a hairline crack in my case... and it involves making contact with him."

The diminutive detective could hear the surprise in his friend's voice. "Really? What happened?"

"I talked to my dad."

"He didn't ask any questions?"

Conan hesitated for a couple seconds. "He asked some questions. I told him I couldn't give him complete answers. Somehow he was satisfied by that, but I know I'm gonna get an earful later."

" 'K, so what's the deal?"

"I can't tell you the whole thing over the phone, but suffice it to say that the thing he's searching for might be the key to fixing some problems."

"That piece of ro..."

"Don't talk about it! The heist is in two days, that's Wednesday. Ed and I are the only ones going, although Ed doesn't know that yet. Come to Tokyo on Thursday, and we'll see what happens from there."

"Yeah, fine. Okay. See ya in a few days."

"Good. I look forward to it."

* * *

On Wednesday afternoon, Conan went to Dr Agasa's after school instead of going back to the detective agency. While they walked, he called Ran to let her know. She told him simply to have fun, and not come home too late.

After hanging up the phone, he turned his attention to Ed. "Got plans for tonight?"

"Not that I can think of. Why, you have an idea?"

Ai sent a warning glare in Conan's general direction, which he ignored.

"I thought it'd be a nice night for a walk."

"Okay, sounds like fun."

"Be sure to bring a notepad. You never know when we'll come across a case."

Ai stared straight ahead of her. "Edogawa-kun, can I speak to you privately when we get home?"

Both boys glanced sideways at her, saying nothing.

When they got inside, she pulled Conan downstairs to the laboratory. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm going to the heist tonight, whether he comes with me or not. I'd just rather have a little leverage. Is that so wrong?"

"It is when you don't tell him where you're going. Less than a week ago, he expressly told us he doesn't want to get involved again. He's a smart guy… what will you say when he figures it out?"

He grinned sheepishly and put one hand behind his head. "I hadn't quite gotten that far yet." His expression turned serious again when he saw how nervous she was, and they sat in silence for a minute.

A disembodied voice floated down to them. "Hey, Conan! Are you ready to go yet?"

"Be right up!"

"You had better think of something," Ai warned.

* * *

Ed and Conan walked casually down the street, watching the last of the red tones drain from the sky. Ed knew the detective was up to something, but he couldn't quite figure out what, so he let the silence linger until the other boy was ready to reveal the cards in his hand. It didn't take as long as he had expected.

"What would you do if you had the opportunity to meet a legendary phantom thief?"

"Phantom thief? I dealt with one of those once… she was weird. I could never tell what her angle was." He watched Conan to see his reaction to the revelation of the woman he met in Aquroya.

The other boy tried to hide his surprise. "No, this guy is way more straightforward. He's always searching for the same thing, and he must not have found it yet, because he keeps sending his riddles to the police departments."

"Riddles? He taunts them on purpose? The one I knew did something almost every night in the town where she lived, and never bothered to warn anyone where she'd be going."

"This guy makes a game out of his heists. Even with full knowledge of where he's gonna be, he still manages to elude us every time."

"Sounds like you know this guy pretty well."

'Haibara was right, he's already catching on,' Conan thought. "Knowing is a matter of perspective. I probably do know him better than most of the policemen who are officially chasing him. I met him a few times, and we even crossed paths once before I was poisoned. But I don't know him personally. He always slips away just when I think I'm about to catch a glimpse of his real face."

They kept walking until they reached a dark building that appeared to be nearly completed, but no tenants had moved in yet. Ed was confused. "You were making it sound like we're going to a heist. There's no one here."

Conan stopped to turn on the flashlight in his wristwatch. "We _are_ going to watch the heist. Firstly, we'll have a pretty good view from here. Secondly, it's way too crowded over there, and he'll have no trouble getting away from them. Out of all the surrounding buildings, this is the one he's most likely to land on after he escapes."

The building they had gone into was a block and a half away from the museum, and two floors taller than the other buildings surrounding it, making it both a good vantage point away from the big crowd and a good escape point where the policemen would be less likely to climb that high. Inside, they saw that only about half the walls were finished. The power hadn't been turned on yet, so they opted for the stairs instead of the construction elevator.

They were a little out of breath when they reached the top floor, so they stopped on the landing. Conan looked at his watch. "It's almost time, come on." He pushed the door open and started making his way toward one of the windows that faced the museum. Ed followed closely, even though it was only out of curiosity for why the other boy was so interested in the guy they'd supposedly be meeting in a little while.

Conan leaned an elbow on the window sill, closed his eyes, and sighed. He watched the crowd for a minute before speaking. "Even with help, Nakamori and his team never seem to come close to catching this guy. Part of that is because he's an expert with disguises, and part is because he thinks and moves faster than all of them combined."

"Except you…"

"I generally don't do elaborate disguises, but my mom does," he replied with a shrug and a grin. "So I might be a little better at spotting it. But yeah, I can usually think faster than the cops too."

Ed chuckled, sympathizing with the detective about having to deal with elders who were just a little too stuck in their ways.

Their attention was drawn out the window as every light in the block surrounding the museum simultaneously shut off. Two seconds later a pair of spotlights mounted on nearby buildings pointed at a lone figure dressed all in white standing on the roof of the museum.

"He sure knows how to make an entrance," Ed quipped.

KID addressed the crowd on the ground in front of him. "Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you very much for joining me here tonight!" The crowd erupted in an odd mixture of cheers and boos. "You are about to witness one of my greatest feats ever! My quarry is in a room in the exact center of this building. Tonight, I will attempt to go in, remove it, and return to this rooftop in no more than eight minutes!" This revelation elicited gasps and surprised mutterings from supporters and opponents alike. "Let's start the clock, shall we?" A giant digital clock showing all zeros was suddenly projected onto the wall of the museum. "Time will start when I disappear from this roof!" He took a step back from the ledge, and a cloud of pink smoke puffed up around him. One of the helicopters circling in the sky approached and three officers jumped onto the roof. They ran towards the cloud, but by the time it dissipated, KID was already gone.

The seconds started ticking on the clock on the wall.

Back at the incomplete office building, Edward was furious. "Who the hell does that guy think he is?"

Conan sighed. He was ready for the night to be over not because he had to keep explaining things to the alchemist, but because the thought of trying to approach the cocky thief was becoming less and less attractive to him. "Sorry, that wasn't at you. Kaitou KID is one of the greatest thieves in history… and unfortunately he has a lot to show for it."

"I believe it. He drinks up the cheers of his followers like some kind of elixir."

"Yeah…" Conan watched the giant numbers change at an achingly slow pace.

* * *

End Chapter 11

A/N: So yeah, that's it. Life continues to happen, so as always I'm not sure how long it'll be until I post again. I like hearing from you all, especially because you guys are just so darn smart! I had a request to add a certain character that I hadn't actually considered, but I thought of a good way to do it, so that person might show up in chapter 12, depending on story flow… you'll just have to wait and see!


	12. The Heist and Its Aftermath

Welcome back, my loyal readers! I know it's been a very long time, but I've been busy. If any of you have seen my deviant art account, you saw that I recently finished a needlepointed basket… it was very involved, and I couldn't do much other creative stuff while I was focused so hard on it. But… now, it's finished, and I can get back to some other stuff (the next big project is my Otakon cosplay ^_^).

I'd also like to welcome those of you who found this story by way of the new "crossovers" section of ff (dot) net. So cool that they developed that categorization for us!

This chapter has been a very long time in the making… not just because I've been doing other things, but there's a section in here that I wrote way back when the story was getting started. It's finally here, and I'm glad I didn't have to change it too much from the way it was originally written.

Anyway… without further ado:

* * *

Chapter 12: The Heist and Its Aftermath

Inspector Nakamori screamed into his walkie-talkie. "Okay men! You know the drill!"

The policemen gave a resounding battle cry, and ran downstairs from the roof to join the rest of the team near the room where the tiara was being displayed. All of them, Nakamori included, were too riled up to notice that there was an extra man among their ranks. It took them a minute and a half to get there, and after another minute of them standing around staring at each other, one of the men put a voice to what they were all thinking. "It's been three minutes already. Where is he?"

After ten more seconds, the display case began to fill with the same pink smoke as had been used on the roof. The officers panicked when it started seeping out around the edges of the box, and into the room. They ran towards it from all sides as the air gradually became opaque.

In the confusion of them trying to figure out who was who, KID knelt down and opened a panel in the side of the podium that the case sat on. He flipped a lever inside which lowered the stand to hide it within the base. When the tiara was within reach, he put his hand in and pulled the item out, and then quickly flipped the switch to re-raise the stand. The smoke stopped flowing as he shut the panel, and it began to dissipate while he moved in the direction where he remembered that the entrance to the room was.

The thief looked down at his stopwatch – there were only two minutes left. He cursed to himself about how long it had taken to lower and raise the display stand. It would be harder to get out than it had been to get in, but luckily he had taken out a little insurance for just such a situation. 'Be seeing you,' he thought as he ran from the room.

When he reached the first set of guards blocking his route, he stopped. "KID escaped into the vent ducts," he told them, pretending that he was trying to catch his breath. "Let's circle around and set up a blockade." He waited to make sure they were following his suggestion, and then ran off in the opposite direction, towards the men's room. On the way, he opened his phone and sent a simple text message: 'I didn't make it in time.'

* * *

Ed and Conan were making small talk during the intervening eight minutes that KID was running around inside the museum. They looked back out the window as the final seconds ticked down. The crowd started counting with the clock. When time was up, all the lights went out again. This time, only one spotlight shone onto the roof – the one from Inspector Nakamori's helicopter.

The light swept across the top of the building, and eventually came to rest on the figure of a man dressed all in white, complete with cape and top hat. His audience erupted into cheers again.

"No way. He really did it," Conan said, more than asked.

"It sure looks that way."

The man saluted the crowd, ran to the back of the roof, and jumped off, out of everyone's line of sight. A few seconds later, a white hang glider was seen rising up from behind the building. The crowd cheered again, and then began to disperse.

"Thanks, Jii-san, you saved me again," KID muttered as he made his escape from the scene of the crime. He rode his glider to the top of a building a block and a half away from where the action was in the process of dying down.

* * *

Conan pushed the door open and stepped out onto the roof, followed closely by Edward. They proceeded a little farther before the detective opened his mouth. "Come on out, KID-san. We saw you come up here."

The gentleman thief walked out from behind the HVAC unit. "Good evening, tantei-kun. I should have known we'd cross paths. Who's your friend?"

Conan grinned and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"I know you well enough to know you don't do anything without a reason…"

Edward watched the exchange intently, amazed at how casually the two were conversing with each other.

"Your quest piqued my curiosity a while back," Conan explained, "so I decided to look into it. The stone you're looking for is called Pandora, right?" The thief nodded. "However, in my search, I discovered that that's not its only name."

Edward's eyes widened, immediately understanding what was going on. "WHAT? When did you plan on sharing this vital piece of information with me?"

Conan turned his head to face his companion. "You told me how you felt about it, so I didn't think you'd come if I had told you," he replied, not quite answering the question.

"What's the catch?"

The two boys shifted their focus back to the task at hand. "Say that again?"

"There's always a catch. Nakamori-keibu saw where I was headed, so if I don't leave soon I'll have to deal with him again… and you know how much of a hassle that is."

Conan's grin widened. "You're already caught. I want to know the truth about you. You give me that information, or else we won't help you find Pandora. Choose wisely, because my friend is prepared to show you a couple tricks of his own." Edward held up a piece of chalk.

KID laughed. "What will you do with that, draw my picture?" He turned his head. "Be sure to get my good side!"

"Last chance," Conan warned, "unless you want to learn first-hand why he knows about the stone. Which is more important to you, your secret or your quarry?"

"Those men…" the thief muttered, almost breaking his poker face. "Fine, you win. How 'bout I come by your place tomorrow?"

"I don't think I trust you enough yet to let you set foot in my home."

"Oh, so that's how it is? Lunch at the cafe downstairs from Mouri-san's apartment - that's my final offer."

"No tricks or disguises…"

"Aw, you're no fun," KID replied mockingly.

"How will I recognize you?"

"The only two times I've appeared to you as the same person… the hair was different, but that's my real face." He pulled a hidden lever, and his hang glider expanded again beneath his cape. "See you later, tantei-kun," he called out before jumping off the roof of the unfinished building and disappearing into the night.

* * *

Edward and Conan descended to the street.

"What the hell is wrong with you," the alchemist asked.

"You mean to tell me you're not the least bit interested?"

"That's right," he said, sounding more confident in his answer than he actually felt. The truth was that he knew he couldn't avoid it, no matter how angry it made him. He just had to string it out a little longer, so it didn't look like he was giving in too easily.

"Well, keep thinking about it. If you change your mind, you know where the meeting is tomorrow. I've also invited Hattori, so it should prove to be interesting. In the mean time, I'm gonna try to figure out who he is."

They walked in silence the rest of the way. As they approached their neighborhood, Conan turned to go back to the Mouris' apartment and Ed continued on to Dr Agasa's house.

* * *

The following morning, Conan skipped class to meet Heiji at the train station. Ai looked pointedly at Edward when the group of Detective Boys noticed that their leader was conspicuously missing. Ed made his best attempt to avoid her glances, until at lunch time he couldn't ignore her any more. The pair moved off to a secluded section of the playground.

"He went to meet the thief, didn't he?"

"Yeah, that's what he said last night."

"Why didn't you go with him?"

"You know the answer to that question. I…" He stopped abruptly when he felt eyes on his back. He turned around to see Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi watching them around the corner of a piece of playground equipment. He gave them a fake smile. "What's up guys?"

"You know where Conan-kun is, don't you?" Ayumi always concerned herself with the best interests of the boy she thought she would someday marry. Genta and Mitsuhiko crossed their arms, more concerned about his whereabouts than the tone she put into the question.

Edward discovered he had as much trouble denying her information, as the other boys had. "He had a very important meeting today. I'm thinking I might go join him… you'll cover for me with the teacher, right?" Ai rolled her eyes at how blunt the alchemist was being with the other kids.

"Why can't we go too?"

Ed finally realized how dangerous the waters were that he was treading in. Conan and Ai had told him how sneaky the Detective Boys were, when it came to sticking their noses into places where they didn't really belong. He chose his words carefully, trying to draw on their sense of duty. "Even though the meeting is important, it's more important for you guys to stay here and go back to class. Not only that, but it would look really suspicious for all six of us to suddenly disappear from the school grounds."

She visibly considered the statement. After half a minute or so, Ed walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Ayumi-chan… I know you're worried about him. I'm gonna go make sure he's okay."

That finally got to her. She nodded. As the three Detective Boys walked back out to the playground proper, Ed and Ai could hear Genta complaining that he had been hoping to go on an adventure.

"So you decided to go," Ai said. "What changed?"

"Surprisingly… nothing. I've only known you guys for a few months, but he somehow already knows me better than I know myself. It's my duty as a State Alchemist to help you guys, and it's my duty to Al and myself to continue my research until I find a solution to our problem. If this is the path laid out for me, I have to see where it leads."

"Good luck. Let me know what happens."

"You're not coming?"

"You said it yourself - it'd look suspicious for too many of us to disappear from school grounds. Anyway, if I'm here, I can keep an eye on those three and make sure they don't try to follow you."

"Thank you," Ed said with a nod and a weak grin.

* * *

Across town, a certain high school student was preparing an escape plan from his campus as well. When the lunch bell rang, he collected his notebooks and bag, and snuck away to his shoe locker. He almost had both outdoors shoes on and tied, when his thoughts were interrupted.

"Going somewhere, Kuroba-kun?"

Kaito knew that people had a hard time trusting him, and that the best way to get them off his back was just to tell the truth. "As it happens, I'm off to a meeting, Hakuba-kun."

Hakuba Saguru stepped out from behind a row of lockers. "A meeting you have to sneak out of school to go to?"

The thief continued to the door. "Yes."

"With who?"

He sighed heavily. "With the kid, okay?"

"The kid? You mean Edogawa Conan-kun?" The wheels started turning in his head, and he smirked. "I can't imagine what business you have with him… I'm coming." He went to his own locker and started changing his shoes.

"WHAT?!? NO!! You can't come! This is between him and me." Kaito tried to get away before Saguru was finished, but somehow the detective outmaneuvered him.

"Sorry, Kuroba-kun, but you've officially piqued my curiosity. Shall we go?"

Kaito had already resigned himself to the fact that his secret would be revealed to his rival Kudo Shinichi. He sighed again and pushed the door open. At least this one already suspected something about the truth of the situation. "After you…"

* * *

End Chapter 12

A/N: Um… I have nothing to say. That's weird… See you next time!


	13. Secrets Revealed

Whoa… posting again so soon? What the heck is going on here? Well… I have some down time, and some musings, and I decided to just go with it.

I'd like to thank "A Bibliophile" for the suggestion to include Hakuba. It hadn't occurred to me, because I didn't know much about him… but having now read volume 3 of "Magic Kaito", I think he'll provide an interesting wrench in the plans.

I still don't own any of this besides the plot. All characters and locations belong to their respective creators.

* * *

Chapter 13: Secrets Revealed

Conan and Heiji went straight to the detective agency from the train station. Ran was in school, and Kogoro was off on a relatively unimportant case. Since the meeting place was near his home, Conan didn't feel that watching the street from the comfort of the office could necessarily be considered cheating.

"Couldn't figure it out, could ya?"

Conan glared at his friend. "I have a guess, but I feel like I'm missing something."

Heiji considered this. "He told you he showed you his real face twice, right?"

"Yeah… but the only times I can remember him duplicating an impression was when he showed up looking like me - in my normal body. The first time was after I almost got my eye shot out of its socket, and he showed up to cover for me when I was about to tell Ran the truth. The second time was when an actress asked us to protect a ring for her. He sent a 'heist note' that time."

"So… you think he looks like you."

"As much as I don't like to admit it, it does make sense. There was also that time Ran said she thought she saw someone that looked like me in Shibuya, so it's not like it's impossible."

They were rewarded a couple minutes later, when a familiar blond walked down the street accompanied by another student who bore an uncanny resemblance to Shinichi. The pair made friendly conversation as they walked, and the darker-haired boy glanced up at the windows of the agency when they passed through the door into the cafe. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary, though, because Conan and Heiji were already making their way down the stairs.

"What's Hakuba doing here," Conan demanded of Heiji.

"Dunno… but he obviously knows the other guy, who happens to look enough like you that he could be the person we're meeting."

"I find it hard to believe that KID would willingly share his secret identity with anyone. Hakuba must have his own suspicions, and decided to tag along when he saw his classmate leaving the school grounds."

"Only one way to find out, then."

"Yeah…"

They reached the street level, and entered the cafe. Rather than waiting to be seated, they made a beeline for the table where the other two teens were already placing drink orders.

The seated pair shifted their attention to the two who approached them. "Hattori-san, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Hakuba-han. But I wont, 'cause Conan-kun and I talked about our theories on the way downstairs. If you must know, the kid invited me."

"And so we come to the one who called this meeting," remarked the one who had yet to be introduced, looking pointedly at the child-sized detective. "My name is Kuroba Kaito," he announced. He didn't ask for either of their names in return, since he knew of them already. "Why have you suddenly taken a stronger interest in me?"

Conan watched the doorway. He was glad that Heiji had had the foresight not to call him 'Kudo' and reveal his secret when explaining his attendance, but it wouldn't matter in a few more minutes anyway. Three pairs of eyes followed his, not sure what they were supposed to be looking for. When nothing happened, he turned back around and slid into the booth beside Hakuba. Heiji could fend for himself next to KID.

"I shouldn't be as surprised as I am, that you haven't already figured it out. You know who I am, and you probably also know what I'm trying to do… but you don't know who that other guy was." He glanced toward the door again, hoping that Ed would miraculously come walking through it. "He's the key."

Hakuba cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, Edogawa-kun, I'm not sure I follow."

"Before we continue, you must promise that nothing you hear today leaves this table. The information being shared is of the utmost sensitivity, and in the wrong hands could prove fatal for every one of us and our loved ones."

Hakuba was surprised at the difference in demeanor and vocabulary in the boy sitting next to him, as compared to when they were in the presence of others besides the two across the table. After a second, he realized that they were all waiting for his reply, noting that they must have already been in on whatever the big secret was. "I promise," he said quietly with a nod.

"Okay. The only way this is gonna work, is if all the information is out in the open between us. Since I'm the one who called this meeting, I'll go first. I am known as Edogawa Conan, but that's not my name." He took off his glasses and set them on the table. "My name is Kudo Shinichi." The words were barely out of his mouth, when Heiji started making motions at him. Conan turned around to see the waitress bringing their drinks. He put his glasses back on, falling back into his child-like persona until she was out of earshot again.

Hakuba sat dumbfounded for the full minute that the waitress was at the table. He found his voice again after she walked away. "If I didn't know better, I'd think this was all a big joke. However, since none of you are laughing… I knew there was something a little off about you, Edogawa-k… oh, I'm sorry, Kudo-kun,"

"No, please keep calling me by my pseudonym. You'll understand why soon."

"Oh, okay… Edogawa-kun. Well, I knew there was something wrong, but I didn't think it was as big as this. Uh… no pun intended."

"That's fine, I'm used to it now." He would have continued, but the door to the cafe opened again, and in came a small blond boy who was dressed all in black, except for a pair of white gloves.

"Ah, speaking of people with complexes about being vertically challenged," Heiji quipped. Conan and Hakuba slid over to make space at the table.

"I thought you said you weren't coming."

"Yeah, well, I changed my mind. Before you ask, Haibara is making up an excuse for us, and keeping the other kids from coming after us."

Conan shrugged. He figured Ai should have been at the meeting too, but it was just as well that she stayed at the school. "Well, you know Hattori. This is Hakuba Saguru and Kuroba Kaito." Each nodded as their name was mentioned.

"Pleased to meet you, I'm Edward Elric."

"I take it he's like you, Edogawa-kun," Hakuba said. "How is he the key to the mystery?"

"Because he knows about the Pandora stone that Kaitou KID is searching for," Kaito said, sitting back with his arms crossed.

Hakuba and Heiji looked back and forth between Kaito and Edward.

Conan smirked. "There's only one way you could have drawn that conclusion from such limited information. Only a small number of people knew we were at the heist last night."

Hakuba's eyes widened to the size of ping-pong balls. "I knew it! You're…"

Kaito cut him off with the wave of a hand before his friend revealed his secret to the rest of the cafe. "Yes, yes, full disclosure and all. But please don't say it out loud."

Conan cleared his throat. "Now that everyone's here and introduced, I suggest we move to a more private location to discuss things further."

There was an audible poof of pink smoke, and a large conical piece of plexiglass gently lowered itself around the table. They watched it for a few seconds before Conan glared at Kaito. "That wasn't what I had in mind." Kaito grinned, but when he noticed that the others didn't appreciate the joke, it was gone with another 'poof'.

Heiji slid off the bench and stood up. "Let's go. You're attractin' attention we don't need or want."

"Where to?" the magician asked.

"Well, if you promise to behave yourself, we can go to my house."

"Upstairs?"

"No… I don't want us all crowded in Mouri-san's office when he or Ran gets home. I mean my parents' house. Edward, do you still have the disc viewer I lent you?"

"Yeah, it's right here in my bag."

"Good. Please lend it to Hakuba-san so he can get caught up while we're walking." The device was passed to Hakuba, and the group left the cafe.

* * *

End Chapter 13

A/N: Yes, I totally geeked out near the end, there. It was very much a "Get Smart" reference. On the original show, the "Cone of Silence" was an actual physical cone. Funny stuff… the movie was way more serious than the show ever was. Gotta love Don Adams /grin/.


End file.
